


A Storm That Took Everything

by vampirekiki



Series: Batman crime family AU [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Age Difference, Aged-Up Damian Wayne, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ambiguous Relationships, Ambiguous Slash, Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Canon-Typical Violence, Cassandra Cain is Batgirl, Court of Owls, Damian Wayne is Robin, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, F/M, Friendship, Gang Violence, Gangs, Jason Todd is Red Hood, M/M, Minor Character(s), Organized Crime, Slow Burn, Stephanie Brown is Spoiler, Tim Drake is a Talon, Underage Character(s), Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2020-09-24 03:29:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20351659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vampirekiki/pseuds/vampirekiki
Summary: Richard Grayson wished to start a new life. He left Gotham and relocated to Blüdhaven, but the ever-extending shadows of his family still loomed over him even after he abandoned his duty to his kins and his position in the Wayne Family: a well-respected elite household in public; one of the most powerful crime families in the Gotham underworld in secret.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [junakabisque](https://archiveofourown.org/users/junakabisque/gifts).

> (1) This story is a spin-off for my ‘Batman crime family AU’ story _‘Unmade’_, which is named after a Thom Yorke’s song from his Suspiria 2018 soundtrack. (Link to [the main story](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18223520/chapters/43113716))
> 
> (2) since it’s a spin-off, if you hadn’t read the main story first you very likely won’t have any idea what is going on in this story.
> 
> (3) this story is also named after a song from the Suspiria 2018 soundtrack ([Link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspiria_\(2018_soundtrack\)))
> 
> (4) however, the quoted lyrics in the story is from Tom Waits’ _Blue Valentines_.
> 
> (5) at the beginning of this story, there had already been an attempt on Bruce Wayne’s life and his subordinates, the Bats clan, needed to figure out what to do next.
> 
> (6) since it’s an AU, so the characterization and setting will be different from the canon.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was the first time Barbara had this uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach like she was seeing a side of Richard Grayson she had never seen before.

Prologue

_She sends me blue valentines all the way from Philadelphia_  
_To mark the anniversary of someone that I used to be_  
_And it feels like a warrant, out for my arrest_  


_ _By the end of the Bats’ meeting, Oracle wheeled herself out of the meeting room and made her way up to the Wayne Manor through one of the elevators connecting the Batcave to the main building above ground. Alfred had already set up her room beforehand and the older man had insisted her to spend the night in the Manor instead of braving the danger of driving alone back to the Clock Tower at night time. Not that she needed the protection so much, but when the family was in a time of crisis, safety measure naturally went up. _ _

_ _Usually, the Oracle operated at her top floor suite in the Clock Tower but today’s emergency had brought her to the Batcave instead. Given the danger the entire Bats clan was facing, spending the night in the Manor was a sensible thing to do. She would return to her base of operation as soon as tomorrow._ _

_ _On her way up, Oracle tracked back all the procedures she had taken to aid the Bats clan to weather the crisis at hand. She had hacked into the orphanage’s CCTV system and then spent hours editing the video footages carefully before she got herself into her car at the last minute and drove to attempt the Bats clan’s family meeting in the Cave. _ _

_ _She knew all her hard work could ensure both the Gotham City Police Department and the general public would never witness how Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy, could wield a gun like a professional, or any too-clear image of Red Hood and his team rushing into the scene to protect Bruce._ _

_ _As she turned things over in her mind, Oracle looked at her own vague outlines reflecting on the stainless steel wall in front of her: a red-haired young woman, sitting on her wheelchair. She wore a pair of black-framed glasses, a thin dark green cotton jacket over a white blouse, long skirt with color matching her jacket, her expression was unreadable. _ _

_ _Outside of the Bats clan, no one had ever associated the fearsome Oracle with a harmless-looking disabled young woman. _ _

_ _The elevator’s doors opened as it reached the second floor, Oracle---_Barbara_, or _Babs_ to her family and close friends, again wheeled herself out. _ _

_ _As she passed through the corridor, a fleeing thought suddenly entered her mind: although she regularly turned down offers of help and the rest of the Family knew better than to view her as a woman in need of assistance, still if Dick were here, he would offer to wheel her to wherever she wanted to go, and she would have accepted his aid. _ _

_ _Dick, formally known as Richard Grayson, was her best friend, and one of the few people who knew Barbara and her double lives well. The two of them had first met in high school and became friends. It was an unlikely friendship between the adoptive son of the richest man in town and the daughter of a policeman. Barbara’s father---Inspector Gordon, had never been a well-off man since he had always done things in the old-fashioned and proper way, refusing to accept bribes, which certainly didn’t improve his income. _ _

_ _Yet, their friendship had worked out so well between the two youngsters, they had tried out dating when they grew a little older, they would even have been something _more_, developing an in-depth romantic relationship if Dick didn’t have his own set of family-related secrets to look after and Barbara didn’t have her ‘accident’._ _

_ _By the end of their high school years, they were both accepted into Gotham University and they had expected to start their freshman year together. But before this could happen, Barbara became paralyzed as she fell victim to a shooting when she was on her way home at night._ _

_ _ After being shot, the two hired guns hovered over Barbara as she sprawled, bleeding on the dirty sidewalk, pitifully moaning in pain and horror. Through the haze of pain, Barbara could feel the two men gripping the front of her shirt and started to tear them apart, she could also hear the thugs exchanging words about removing her clothes and taking pictures of her broken body to show to her father, as a warning to both her old man and anyone else who dared to disobey._ _

_ _She thought this was the end of her, that she was going to bleed to death on the sidewalk as the two men bending over her and she was entirely powerless to save herself from whatever they had planned. She indeed would have been stripped, humiliated and eventually died if she wasn’t discovered by a pair of passersby couple quickly enough. _ _

_ _The young couple who discovered Barbara cried out for help immediately, drawing enough attention to scare the hired guns off, and they also called the police quickly---which was brave and noble for them when most passerby would have simply ignored an injured woman bleeding all over the sidewalk in favor of their own safety. This was Gotham City, after all. _ _

_ _Despite being rushed to the hospital just in time, which saved her life, Barbara would still never walk again._ _

_ _As for the two thugs who were obviously hired to maim Barbara in order to threaten her father, plus the mastermind behind this attack, all of them had remained at large despite police’s effort. _ _

_ _This almost destroyed the young woman and her family alongside her. Barbara thought she would never overcome the pain and humiliation, the helplessness and dread she was forced to endure under those evil men’s hands._ _

_ _She could no longer face the outside world, not even her own friends and family, she locked herself up, drowning herself in hopelessness and despair. Once she had so many plans for her future, but now all was lost just because of a bullet piercing her through the spine. _ _

_ _She had nothing to live for._ _

_ _Until Dick literally beating down her door and forced her to face herself and the outside world again. He talked to her constantly, even when she was unresponsive, he persuaded her to eat again, to do exercises to help her body to gain back its strength. The young man took it upon himself to keep her on her scheduled therapy sessions even when she threw things at him, refusing to leave her room._ _

_ _Months had passed, Dick didn’t give up on her, until one day she recovered enough to finally manage to wheel herself out of her parents’ house and went back to the land of the living again._ _

_ _One of the first things she had asked for Dick’s assistance after she became strong enough to be active again, was for him to help to locate the young couple who had helped her to survive in that fatal night. Barbara still remembered how they boldly screamed at the hired thugs until they retreated, how the young woman--only a few years older than Barbara herself, took hold of her hands, murmuring words of comfort to her until an ambulance arrived._ _

_ _Barbara wished to finally thank the couple for their kindness and courage. _ _

_ _However, her dream of meeting her benefactors again came crashing down around her when a few days later, Dick came back with the news that the young couple in question had been murdered._ _

_ _According to the information Dick managed to gather, they were shot at their own home in what appeared to be a robbery went wrong. _ _

_ _Were they really the victims of a senseless crime, or were they being silent for acting as the good Samaritans? No one would ever know the truth._ _

_ _Even since waking up in the hospital and learned about her own injury, Barbara had refused to cry, but once she heard what had happened to her benefactors, she broke down and cried her heart out._ _

_ _There was nothing she could do. For a moment it felt like she was going right back to that fatal night when she was bleeding and helpless. She hated it, hated this world, all the horror and ugliness, all the injustice. Every evildoer who managed to walk free from their crime and the broken victims they left behind. She hated it._ _

_ _She hated all these with a burning passion._ _

_ _As she dried her tears, she vowed to herself she would never, never be helpless again._ _

_ _Little bit by little bit, the young woman picked up the broken pieces of her life. First, she took up the job offer to work in Wayne Enterprises as an intern for the computer networking and communication department. The workload was heavy and the work itself was highly demanding, and Barbara threw herself right into it. At least unlike in the university or at her own home, no one was looking at her with pity in where she worked._ _

_ _At the back of her mind, she knew for someone like her, who still hadn’t yet finished university, to be accepted as an intern in the famed Wayne Enterprises, Dick must have pulled a few strings behind the screen for her to get this opportunity. _ _

_ _So Babara threw herself into her work and hit it with everything she had, she improved her skills and knowledge on the subject of computer science, working on every piece of new knowledge she could get her hands on._ _

_ _Secondly, she signed up for lessons and started training herself to use firearms._ _

_ _Once again, Dick took it upon himself to drive her whenever she needed a ride to attempt her lessons, he stayed behind to watch her practiced how to use guns, even giving out advice for her to improve her performance, how to aim better, how to have better balance, etc._ _

_ _She was surprised by Dick’s knowledge on the subject of firearms, through the years of them knowing each other, he had never seemed to be the type to fancy guns or used them frequently. She was aware of the fact that Bruce Wayne, Dick’s adoptive father would take his children to hunting trips occasionally, but Dick had never said much about those activities and Barbara had never given much thought about them._ _

_ _This changed after Barbara saw firsthand how with ease Dick had seemed to be when he demonstrated how to shoot properly, just in order to show her how it was done. _ _

_ _It was the first time Barbara had this uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach like she was seeing a side of Richard Grayson she had never seen before._ _

_ _

_ _****_ _

_ _Barbara was in front of the door to her room in the Manor when she noticed a lithe figure slipping into her line of vision. The lighting in the corridor wasn’t strong enough for her to make out much of the details but she had quite a good idea who it might be._ _

_ _She was tired and didn’t have much will and patience for a long talk, plus _his_ presence was rather unexpected. She had thought Robin would stay behind to raise some hell with Red Hood, or at least, she hoped he would do this. Not that she liked seeing Robin and Red Hood at each other’s throats, not at all. It was just…...she would rather have him bothering Hood instead of tailing her like he was doing now._ _

_ _When she spoke up, she didn’t even turn her head to acknowledge the other’s presence. “You have something to say, Damian?”_ _

_ _“I have something to say about the fake alarm you’d given in the meeting, Gordon.” The 15 years old teen replied, his voice was low, with barely veiled accusation._ _

_ _“What fake alarm?” Barbara asked, though again, she had quite a good idea of what the current Robin was talking about._ _

_ _“There has never been any real concern for Grayson’s safety because _you had already sent a warning to him even before the meeting._ Am I correct?”_ _

_ _“......”_ _

_ _Barbara closed her eyes, she should have known she couldn’t fool everyone. Once she was made aware of the attempt on Bruce’s life, one of the first things she did was to send out a warning to Dick through a channel which was known only to the two of them. _ _

_ _Damian had seemingly taken her silence as a form of admission. “Why?”_ _

_ _Well, through the years, Barbara had learned Damian could be many things, but she had never expected the teen to be the type to ask questions when he already had an answer in mind._ _

_ _“The same reason why you want to go all the way to Blüdhaven to warn Dick, even when it only takes one phone call to get the message across,” She replied, as gently as she could muster._ _

_ _This time, Damian had nothing to counter, and Barbara didn’t bother to wait for him to start, she mutely opened the door to her room and got in._ _

_ _Once the door was closed and she was left alone, Barbara admitted to herself, she had brought up the topic of Dick in the Bats’ meeting because she wanted to see Bruce’s reaction. The older man’s reaction was one of the details she quietly stored into her memory during the family meeting._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teaser:
> 
> _Before she could ask, Dick leaned forward to kiss her on her forehead, told her he was going to give her what she wanted, a _present_._
> 
> _How could Dick know what she wanted when she herself hadn't yet known what she wanted?_  



	2. Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Finding the hired guns isn’t the difficult part, Babs,” Dick commented, in a matter-of-fact tone. “Ratting out the one who’d hired them to do the job? This is the difficult part.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) I haven’t watched the TV series _Gotham_ nor _Titians_ (though I wish to), I only heard about people getting upset by Dick having killed people in Titians. Well, personally I don’t mind it all that much.
> 
> (2) Okay...spoiler here! In this story, Babs wasn’t maimed by the Joker, I don’t know what you think about it, but I’m not ready to write so much about the clown at the moment.
> 
> (3) I hope this spin-off story will show more about the dynamics within the Bat-Family.
> 
> (4) I am a layman when it comes to computer science, so please bear with me!
> 
> (5) again, this chapter is non-beta-ed!

Part 1

_Baby you got me checkin' in my rearview mirror_

When Barbara first came to work in the computer networking department, her supervisor, the department’s manager, mostly threw unwanted data and tasks at her. Thinking she couldn’t do better than dealing with leftovers and petty tasks. She was assigned to sort out the messy leftover in the department’s computer system, sorting out bugs, classifying data and putting them back under the right index, the most mundane kind of tasks within their department. 

At the very beginning, none of her coworkers in her workplace thought too highly of her, mostly for the fact that she was one of the few people who worked in the department but didn’t yet have a university degree and working experience under her belt. Plus it didn’t take long for rumors to be spread that she got her internship only because she was the girlfriend of Richard Grayson-Wayne, adopted son of the company’s owner.

As for Barbara herself, she didn’t care too much about her coworkers’ opinions and their treatment to her. If people felt the need to judge her so quickly, then so be it. She understood that to her coworkers, she was merely a newcomer yet to prove herself, who had entered the Wayne Enterprises with a suspicious manner. The only way to gain her coworkers’ respect was to prove her own worth first. 

So she worked on the materials handed to her without complaint, sorting through each worn out folders and case files being thrown her way, cataloging them and turned those chaotic data back into meaningful information, ready to be reused again.

One day, Barbara’s supervisor took a look at the database she had been working on, and he checked on it again, this time more slowly and carefully, then the man returned to his office without a word only to reappear minutes later with his both hands full of heavy case files and pieces of equipment and brought them all to Barbara’s desk.

The manager wanted the newbie intern girl to work through those data and files and build up a system based on them.

When faced by the man’s challenge, Barbara responded by doing her best.

Later the manager would tell her he had expected her to finish the task in two weeks or even longer, but Barbara brought up a finished model for him within one week.

When one week was up and she was finished, the manager was once again impressed by the result she proved. This time, even her coworkers started to notice her achievement.

Her manager continued to allow her to work on more and more data, sorting through them and built up different systems. 

Little by little, the rumors about how the young woman got her internship and the harsh words against her began to die down. Later she earned herself a promotion and became a formal employee of the department.

She was happy with her newfound success, but there was still one problem on the horizon: the more she worked, with more data she came into contact and analyzed, the more she sensed something was amiss. 

During her research, she noticed there was something not adding up inside the Wayne Enterprises' system, something which had no explanation. The young woman soon noticed there were undercurrents within the Wayne Enterprises, there were unexplained flows of money running through the system, 'employees' who were receiving paychecks on a regular basis but no one could tell exactly what they were working on, or even which department they were supposed to be in.

Well, if she was to be entirely honest with herself, she had broken a few rules in order to get to these pieces of information and take a peer at them.

Out of loyalty to Dick, for the longest of time, Barbara had turned a blind eye. She kept her discovery a secret, kept her suspicion to herself, never revealing anything to her coworkers. She also didn’t say anything of her finding to her supervisor. 

The sense of suspense and secrecy weighed heavily on her, she had been taught by her parents to be honest all her life, but now...she was collecting secrets and keeping them as though those things were _hers_ to keep.

Despite the heavy feeling in her heart, she fixed her mind on analyzing the details she’d found. There was a picture hidden under all those data, she kept looking for hints until the main structure started to take shape before her mind’s eye.

She checked each piece of detail until she discovered something more. She kept looking until she could make sense of what she was seeing, the hidden picture underneath layers of lies, disguises and misinformation.

What she had found, had a lot to do with the hidden side of the WE’s business, it also had a lot to do with Dick’s family, the Waynes.

It took her a lot of hesitation before she could make up her mind to call Dick for a meet-up. She had things to show him.

If she were honest with herself, she would call this meeting a confrontation, but at this moment, it was easier to avoid giving her own thoughts a name.

When the arranged day of their meeting arrived, they met at one of the top floor suites in the Wayne Tower, in a sunlit parlor at the top of the Tower, one of those places which were reserved for the Waynes. Barbara gathered the information she’d found, saving them in her laptop and then turning all those files to Dick, and all she wanted in return from him were some answers.

At first Dick was on the phone with someone else, Barbara waited until he was finished and came up to greet her. Once she opened her laptop and showed him the files, he started checking those digital files one by one patiently, then looked at the folders and case files she had made ready on the desk. When he closed the last file, Dick remained silent, seemingly deep in thoughts.

Barbara waited for his move and was slightly taken aback when he walked around the desk, then getting down on one knee in front of her, and asked her _the_ question.

“I see that you’d put many things within the WE together, Babs.” Dick looked into her eyes as he spoke in his usual calming tone. _“So what is your conclusion?”_

Closing her eyes for a second before reopening them, feeling wearier than she had ever been, Barbara chose to go straight to the point. "My conclusion is, there are certain connections between the Waynes and the Bats crime family. Connections that go as early as the beginning of Mr. Wayne, your adopted father’s career.” 

Now she had put her cards on the table. What she said was the conclusion she had come up with after looking at all the evidence, putting every clue together and analyzing them. Yet, why would she still feel nervous when she uttered this conclusion? 

Dick’s muscles tensed up for a moment, he quickly relaxed but his instinctual reaction wasn’t lost to Barbara. He didn’t say anything, he only continued to look at her with those blue eyes reflecting both curiosity and caution.

“I even have a few pieces of evidence to prove that _they are one and the same_, your family and the so-called Bats clan." The young woman whispered, she tried to stay calm but even at this moment, her hands were shaking on top of her laps. " But what I need to confirm is, _who are you, Dick?_ What role have you been playing in this...family?"

Her question echoed off into the silence in the room. Dick watched her for another long moment before he took a deep sigh and spoke. "I have something to show you, come with me, Babs."

Then he stood up, taking hold of the handles of her wheelchair and wheeled her out of the parlor. When they reached the underground parking lot there was an unmarked car waiting for them. Once he got Barbara settled on the passenger seat of said car, Dick started the engine and soon they left the Wayne Tower behind and drove to a highway, exiting Gotham City altogether.

Perhaps Barbara should be afraid, she was alone in a car with a person who she had just revealed as a member of the Bats clan, a dangerous crime family. If said person wanted to silence her in order to keep his 'family's secret', there wasn't much she could do as they were alone on an increasingly deserted highway, no one would be there to save her or even be close enough to be able to hear her scream.

However, unlike what had happened when she was attacked by the two hired thugs, this time Barbara wasn't afraid, it was _Dick_ sitting beside her after all, she trusted that Dick would not harm her, even after all the evidence she had discovered, even after she had figured out his family secret.

It was during this car trip, Dick first revealed bits and pieces of his Family’s true identity, and the truth of his double lives to her.

Batman and his clan were real, and Dick, this young man whom she thought she had known so well through the years, had harbored a secret identity as Robin, Batman’s partner in crime and now, being groomed to be the successor of Batman’s empire.

Dick didn’t look at her during this confession, didn’t try to look her in the eyes when he confirmed, with his own words, that Barbara’s hypothesis and suspicion were true.

Dick’s monologue came to an end when they reached their destination, a large, rundown barn in the middle of nowhere. 

"I'd never wanted to be put into this position,” The young man said when he drove his car into the garage behind the barn. “but this time I'm glad to be part of this 'family', because it means at the very least I can finally do something for you, Babs."

Before she could ask what did he mean, Dick leaned forward to kiss her on her forehead, told her he was going to give her what she wanted, a _present_.

How could Dick know what she wanted when she herself hadn't yet known what she wanted?

She was helped out of the car and brought inside the seemingly empty barn, there were a few men, all dressed in dark business suits, sitting inside, waiting for them. They bowed in unison when they saw Dick.

Instantly Barbara knew these men must be members of the Bats clan, who were under Dick’s command. 

“Once I got that phone call before our meeting, I’d been thinking about how to tell you, Babs.” Dick said when he held her bridal style so they could get down the stairs to a hidden basement, with one of his men holding Barbara’s wheelchair for her. 

He paused, then looking down at her in concern. “ I wouldn’t have known how to reveal _this_ to you, Babs. But...I think we can get past this state of second-guessing now, right?” 

Barbara didn’t know how to respond, and Dick merely ended his sentence with a failed attempt to smile before they reached the bottom of the narrow stairs and went into a poorly lit basement.

Soon Barbara would discover there were two rooms within this stone-made basement, the two rooms were separated only by a heavy steel door and a large full-length glass window, which Dick explained as a specially prepared one-way mirror.

They were on one side of the one-way mirror, and on the other side, a whole squared room was covered from ceiling to floor with some kind of white plastic wrapping, plus there were three blindfolded men hanging from the ceiling by the chains wrapped around their wrists. It was obvious that they had all been previously beaten and interrogated.

Barbara gasped at the sight, she thought there was something familiar about these men, while she was still focused on the men’s blindfolded, bruised faces for clues, two of the men in dark suits opened the steel door and walked into this other room, getting into positions behind the three hanging men. 

“You had seen these men before, at least two out of these three; Babs.” Now Dick was lowering her back to her wheelchair. “Remember their faces? Should we take off the blindfolds? Don’t you worry, they really can’t see us.”

“...no need, Dick. I remember.” Barbara was surprised to hear herself answering, her own voice devoid of any emotion, but it was true that in a flash, she did remember who two out of these three men were.

Those two were the hired thugs who had put a bullet through her spine one and a half years ago. 

Her mind was racing and everything came to make sense to her now, it was Dick’s ‘present’ to her, he had brought her torturers to this hidden location, and they were now chained before her. Just as battered, scared and helpless as she once was when she was attacked.

“Finding the hired guns isn’t the difficult part, Babs,” Dick commented, in a matter-of-fact tone. “Ratting out the one who’d hired them to do the job? This is the difficult part.”

With a hand gesture from Dick, one of his men moved to stand behind the bound man at the center and undid his blindfold.

So Barbara came face to face with the person who had ordered her to be maimed, and this face would stay with her for a long time afterward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teaser
> 
> _It took the men three more days to finish, throughout these three days, Barbara barely ate, she just watched, with Dick always somewhere close by her side._


	3. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In these three days, Barbara and Dick sat there behind the one-way mirror and watched their progress. Sometimes the screaming had become too much to bear, the young woman wanted nothing but to cover her ears, yet she forced herself to keep listening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) This story belongs to my Batman crime family series, you can read [the first part](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18223520/chapters/43113716) here.
> 
> (2) I often feel uncertain about the plots and the characters. I think I need to talk with some people about the development of the main story, is there anyone who is interested? Do contact me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/mizakalili), or, you are always welcome to leave a comment too.
> 
> (3) there is a Ferris Boyle, the CEO of GothCorp, in the comic and Batman: the animated series, but I’m merely using the guy’s name and his status as a CEO for this story.
> 
> (4) given all [the current social unrest](https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/10/19/hongkongers-don-pepe-guy-fawkes-winnie-xi-jinping-masks-human-chain-protest-new-law/) and [violent attacks against civilians](https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/10/19/19-year-old-stabbed-neck-stomach-tai-po-lennon-wall-assailant-declares-hong-kong-part-china) that took place in my hometown, I'd channeled a lot of my own outrage and sadness when writing this chapter.

Part 2

_And stales this blue valentine, remind me of my cardinal sin  
I can never wash the guilt or get these bloodstains off my hands_

Long before she went to meet with Dick in the Wayne Tower that day, Barbara had done her homework on the Bats clan and their activities in the city.

There, of course, weren’t much accurate information about the Bats’ on the media or the official records, there was also no official mapping on where exactly the Batman’s territory began and where it ended, Barbara still managed to do her own mapping by using the hidden data she found within the WE to pinpoint in which district there were places most likely to be the Bats’ strongholds, where their manpower was located, which districts were under their control. Most importantly, the sighting of the Bats’ lieutenants also helped in keeping track of the clan’s activities.

What she discovered surprised her, compared with other districts, the crime rate within Batman’s territory was actually _lower_.

The number of violent street crime and death rate was also lower.

Adolescents’ drug use was significantly lower.

The number of children and lower-class families receiving charity, education programs, and social support was significantly higher; thanks to the effort of the Martha Wayne Foundation at work in those areas. Unemployed young men and women from poor families were encouraged to go back to school or find jobs instead of doing drugs or wandering aimlessly causing troubles for themselves and the neighborhood.

Yet, there was still no denying the Bats clan grossed a large sum of money and resources from their illegal activities in those districts, though. Owners of small businesses and shop owners were still paying contributions to the Bats clan in exchange for permission to run their business and protection. The truth was, those ordinary owners of small business did have the need for protection, the Bats clan did keep many of the violent crime families and gangs outside of their territory. 

Plus the cops in Batman’s territory were still accepting bribes to turn a blind eye at the Bats’ activities. In this sense, the Bats clan wasn’t so different from the other crime families in town. The Bats were no saints, and they weren’t running a charity--not exactly. 

However, differences could still be noted, violence against mere civilians was ripped mostly out from the streets. Anyone who attempted to terrorize the streets in Batman’s territory was quickly and effectively-rounded up and taught a lesson and then kicked out. If there actually were some stubborn mobs refusing to learn their lesson and took their business elsewhere, they usually would _vanish_, out of everyone’s hair; and Barbara couldn’t say the world wasn’t a better place with fewer criminals around.

People who had committed sexual violence against women and children and those who had abused sex workers were also heavily punished. The Bats showed no mercy to those who preyed on the weak and the helpless. 

In recent years, there had once been a case of a serial rapist-robber terrorizing Crime Alley--one of Batman’s less stable territories. For months the GCPD had failed to arrest the criminal, until one day a suspect was discovered on the GCPD’s doorstep, tied and beat to the inch of his life, his face cut up into a bloody mess and a few fingers missing before he was delivered right there for the cops to arrest. Later it was proved through DNA testing that the arrestee was, in fact, the at large serial rapist.

There was a lot of sensation over this serial rape-robbery case in the media. However, no one would say so out loud, yet people in the neighborhood knew the rapist was handed over to the police by one of the Bats. It was widely believed the man was left alive in order to send a message to other criminals who mistakenly thought they could get away with rampaging in Batman’s territory.

As to the bribe-accepting cops, they were also ‘persuaded’ into doing their job properly, to take their duties at serving and protecting general citizens seriously. Cops who abused their authority or preying on the citizens would usually come up with mysterious injuries or be removed from their job soon afterward.

The more she looked into the matter, the more it felt like the people who lived under Batman’s rule was having more stability than many other people who lived in the other ‘bad’ neighborhoods in Gotham. 

There were still smaller crime families and gangs doing business within Batman’s territory, but under Batman’s rule, there was no in-fight among those smaller families, in turn, there were no innocent citizen being caught in crossfires, no gang-war over egos and powerplay among the gangs.

If there were conflicts of interest among those smaller crime families in the districts, they knew going to Batman for judgment and negotiation would be for the best; and seemingly Batman always made sure the conflicts could be solved in a relatively peaceful way.

Looked like Batman had run his empire well, his ‘subjects’ were well looked after, after a fashion.

She wasn’t even counting the smaller wrongs: robbery, attempted rape, gang fight, etc Batman and his lieutenants had rightened during their nightly activities and patrols. 

The young woman went to meet up with Dick, her best friend, her high school sweetheart, with all this knowledge in her mind.

Now, back to the present time, Dick had led her to the thugs who shot her, and the man behind her attack.

The captured men were blindfolded so they couldn’t see who was standing right in front of them, separated only by a one-way mirror, that allowed Barbara the time to study each of those men. 

She only paid very short attention to the two hired guns who committed the actual shooting, they were captured and hopefully, they could not hurt anyone else anymore; so her main focus was on the man who ordered the shooting.

She had heard from the two hired guns that they were ordered to maim her to teach her father, Inspector Gordon, a lesson.

Dick motioned for his men to take down the captives’ blindfolds, leaving their faces exposed, allowing Barbara to finally have a good look at the man who very much intended to harm her, and in turn, harm her father, her entire _family_.

On the outside, the middle-aged man didn’t seem to be much, he almost looked like any other businessman you would meet in the uptown, expected the cold, calculating look in the man’s sharp eyes.

Even at this moment, with his hands tied, his battered body hanging by a chain from the ceiling, this man was still scanning his surroundings, looking for a way out.

Soon Barbara learned her enemy went by the name of Ferris Boyle, the CEO of GothCorp, a businessman with a shady reputation.

“Your father...Mr. Gordon was working on a case to take this man down when the shooting happened.” Dick explained drily, his face stone-cold when he had his eyes fixed on Boyle. 

Boyle’s plot was quite simple: when Barbara’s father tightened his net around him, Boyle thought to distract the Inspector by harming a member of his family. And the scheme had worked, when her father was distracted and stressed nearly to the breaking point by his own daughter’s injury, Boyle had managed to cover most of his tracks.

With many of the evidence destroyed, the GCPD could never present their case to the Court.

But the Bats, they didn’t play by the rules set down by the authority, unlike the GCPD, they didn’t need to build up a case and present it to the Court for a judgment to be passed down. 

What Dick had done was to simply track down the hired thugs, then hunted down the go-betweens who managed those thugs, ‘persuading’ them to reveal their secrets, and eventually connected Barbara’s attack to Ferris Boyle.

After that, Boyle was simply captured and brought to the deserted barn in the middle of nowhere.

“So now we have them.” Dick ended his long explanation about Boyle and his scheme with a strangely dispassionate tone, still, Barbara could detect a hint of disgust in his tone. 

No arrest statement had ever been uttered to these three men. There was no chance for Boyle and his men to apply for an appeal, no judge and jury system, no need to present any evidence, not anymore.

“What will you want to be done to them, Babs?”

Dick and his men had done all the hard work. All there was left was for Barbara to do, was to pass down her final judgment.

Barbara hadn't noticed when did Dick’s men put on masks on their own face, in order to cover their identity, nor when did all of them roll up their sleeves.

With one look at Dick and his tensed expression, the young woman understood what all these meant.

With a few simple words from her, the three captured men were going to _die_ in this basement. They even had the room behind the one-way mirror set up, the white plastic wrapping which covered every surface of this room would prevent blood stains from being left behind on the floor, the walls and the ceiling.

Dick had everything ready, but the remaining problem was, was Barbara ready?

Staring at those three men, something sharp and ugly took shape in Barbara’s being.

“Do it, Dick.” She almost couldn’t believe herself, but she did say those words. ”Make it slow.”

Dick’s expression was still gloomy, but he didn’t seem to be surprised. Then with an order from him, his men started getting to _work_ on their three captives.

It took the men three days to ‘work’ through Boyle and his hired guns. In these three days, Barbara and Dick sat there behind the one-way mirror and watched their progress. Sometimes the screaming had become too much to bear, the young woman wanted nothing but to cover her ears, yet she forced herself to keep listening.

Sometimes, the torture had gone too far that the young woman wanted to wheel herself from the basement and vomit her guts out, yet she made herself stay and keep watching. Sometimes the smell of urine and blood mixing together filling the entire basement, filling her nose had become too much she wanted nothing more than to leave and escape to the ground floor, yet she forced herself to stay.

During these three days, Barbara barely ate, she just watched, with Dick always somewhere close by her side.

Sometimes the torture made her feel very, very sick, still, she made herself watch.

The old Barbara, the daughter of Inspector Gordon, might have let Boyle and her two attackers go.

The old Barbara might have asked Dick to turn these men to the authority, let them stand trial for their crime. 

But she was no longer that person.

This new Barbara had decided to take matters into her own hands.

This new Barbara knew she must bear witness to the consequences of her own decision. 

By the third day, when Dick’s men were taking a break, Barbara wheeled herself into the torture chamber soundlessly, leveled her pistol and put bullets through her attackers' heads, before anyone could get in and stop her. She couldn't, _wouldn't_ just sit around and watch some other people did the dirty job for her.

Even after months of practice, on the training field, Barbara’s hands still tended to shock violently whenever she tried to aim at her target, for the memory of her own shooting tended to resurface whenever she tried to use a gun.

But this time, her hands were steady, her aiming perfect when she shot three living people at the heads, for the first time. 

When Dick rushed in after hearing the gunshot, he was startled by her sudden action at first, but soon understanding showed on his face, plus he didn't seem at all surprised by the fact that she had hidden a pistol on her person.

After relaxing her death-grip around the pistol, Barbara looked up to meet Dick’s stare steadily. She knew Dick of all people would understand why she did that. 

Not many people had seen this side of Dick, but the young man did know the nature of revenge. 

****

Later that day, Dick drove her back to Gotham City. They didn’t say much during the ride, they didn’t mention what had taken place in this barn, not a word between them. 

It also went without saying that Dick’s men had stayed behind in the basement to make sure no one would ever discover the remains of those accused men.

Previously, Dick had been mindful and contacted the Gordons ahead and lied about himself taking their daughter to a little trip during the weekend, so Barbara’s three days of absence had gone unsuspected in her own household.

When Barbara was finally home, her parents had yet to return and her younger brother James Jr. also had yet to return from his outing with his pals.

This left Barbara the much-needed silence and space to think things over in her own room. 

Now her torturers were dead, by her own order. They even confessed to their crime against her, against many other victims, before they were finished.

Now she knew the secrets of the Wayne Family, now Dick also knew she knew of his family secrets. It was only logical that Dick’s father, Bruce Wayne, leader of the Bats crime family, _Batman_ himself, would know of it soon enough. If he hadn’t become aware of the situation already.

What the Waynes were going to do to her next?

What she was going to do next?

So many decisions to be made.

Barbara thought about the attack which left her wheelchair-bound, she thought about the young couple who had saved her, who was shot and lay dead on the floor in their own apartment. Where were justice and the protection from the laws and order when this young couple needed it the most? 

Where were the authority, justice and the laws when _she_ needed it the most?

Then the young woman once again thought about what she knew of the Bats clan and their business.

On one hand, there was the legal part of their business: Wayne Enterprises invested a lot in the city's construction projects and the development of different brands of high-tech products. Seemingly those construction projects had provided a lot of legal income for the members of the middle and low level of the Bats clan. In a sense, it helped people from the worst parts of town to earn a living, keeping food on many poor families’ tables.

Meanwhile, the high tech products under the Wayne brands were also the supplies of the Bats clan's impressive weaponry.

On the illegal side of their business dealings, the Wayne Enterprises provided a cover of decency for the Bats clan; in return, the crime family, working in the shadows, provided manpower, reinforcers, backdoors and illegal channels of selling said products. 

In cases of resistance and refusal, the Bats clan would make sure those who refused their protection to feel _unwelcomed_, then they could decide whether they want to eventually accept the clan's protection, or move out of the territory on their own.

Batman had always tended to be reasonable with his business dealings.

Could she say the people--ordinary people--who lived under the Batman's rule were any worse off than those who weren't?

People who lived outside of the Bats' territories were also giving out bribery and protection money in exchange for safety, many of them had to pay more than the amount which was paid to the Bats clan, and if they refused to pay up, the local gang would surely threaten them with violence. Plus sometimes even when people did pay up, they were still subjected to gang violence and mistreat all the same. At least Batman knew and care about keeping his own words. 

****

"Dick," A few days later, Barbara phoned her long-time best friend. "Whatever your family is doing, I want in."

It took a long moment for Dick to reply, but when he did, he didn't sound surprised. "...you have my welcome, Babs. But I’ll have to talk to Bruce, you know? All three of us have many discussions to do.”

“Crystal.” 

She knew it wouldn’t be easy to be accepted into the Bats clan. It was just like her first days in the WE, she must prove her own worth and trustworthiness, but now it seemed like she had one foot in the door.

So a few years later, when Barbara discovered a major clue to the murder of Dick’s parents, the Garysons, through her network as the Oracle. She turned the clue to both Dick and Bruce instantly. 

She’d thought she was returning a favor to Dick, a silent ‘thank you’ for enabling her to seek her revenge against her torturers years ago.

Then she was surprised when Dick decided to leave the Family after he......tracked down his parents’ murderers and _‘took care of’_ them.

Originally, she had thought finding his parents’ murderers was what Dick had always wanted, but perhaps she had been wrong.

Perhaps all of them had been _wrong_ about Dick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teaser
> 
> _Dick relaxed a little, it was much better when people were cooperative._  
_Then he used his most reasonable tone to talk. “You’re going to report back to your boss with the information I prove to you.”_  
_“Mr. Grayson, I---with all due respect, I don’t want to get into trouble--”_  
_Dick threw the guy a smile. “Do as I say, I promise you won’t get into any trouble.”_


	4. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He sat up, gripping his cellphone from the low desk before him, then frozen on the spot when he saw the icon which appeared on the screen. The pale-green inorganic face of a female-looking android, the icon of the Oracle herself.
> 
> It was Oracle sending him a message, Dick knew she wouldn’t do that unless there was a case of utmost emergency. Instantly Dick opened the message.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) This story belongs to my Batman crime family series, you can read [the first part](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18223520/chapters/43113716) here.  
(2) I often feel uncertain about the plots and the characters. I think I need to talk with some people about the development of the main story, is there anyone who is interested? Do contact me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/mizakalili), or, you are always welcome to leave a comment too.  
(3) I did think about letting Dick and Babs have sex after they witnessing the torture scene in the previous chapter...but...I decided against it because it seems to be going too far, even for me.  
(4) Merry Christmas and happy holiday, everyone! Plus I made [a thank you banner](http://fav.me/ddmp6wj) to thank everyone for reading, the image is too large so I only show the link.

Part 3

_So I'm always on the run that's why I changed my name  
And I didn't think you'd ever find me here_

The noise of his cell phone ringing woke Dick from his slumber. It was a Saturday afternoon, the young man had fallen asleep with his player playing some old songs. It was the day he could enjoy a day off, he had spent most of his time working out, listening to music and relaxing at home. 

He didn’t remember falling asleep on his armchair, but when the ringing of his cellphone pierced through his brain and woke him with a start, the music from the player had long stopped, the silence in his apartment was disturbed only by the sound of his own breathing and the ringing of his phone, echoing within the four walls of his living room.

He sat up, gripping his cellphone from the low desk before him, then frozen on the spot when he saw the icon which appeared on the screen. The pale-green inorganic face of a female-looking android, the icon of the Oracle herself.

It was Oracle sending him a message, Dick knew she wouldn’t do that unless there was a case of utmost emergency. Instantly Dick opened the message.

_B was attacked, taken to safety._  
_Be on guard._  
_Backups on the way._

Taken aback by the warning, the young man tried to phone Oracle---_Barbara_\---back, but Babs didn’t answer, not that he really expected she would. If Bruce was attacked, she would definitely take part in the operation of safeguarding him. The boss must be protected at all costs.

Not just her, the whole Family would be on the move in the case of such an emergency.

Babs also told him ‘backups’ would arrive, but when, and how many? He knew better than to sit there and wait for said backups. If Bruce Wayne were targeted, which meant there was a huge chance the other members of the Wayne Family would also come under attack.

Instantly he stood up, locked all the windows and closed the curtains, gripped his winter coat, his wallet and a backpack,, then exited from his apartment, locking the front door behind him. When he left his apartment, the hallway was empty, it was almost as if nothing had changed. Outside of his Family, normalcy continued for everyone else, but Dick knew better than to trust this facade of peace and safety.

His adopted father was attacked, possibly the rest of his family were also in trouble, Dick must move quickly for cover. He had always maintained a low profile during his time living in Blüdhaven, his phone number and address had never been listed in the phonebook or any public record, but he also knew in the age of internet and social media, it wouldn’t take too much for the location of his apartment and his workplace to be discovered. 

He drove his car from the garage in the basement of his apartment building, then drove all the way to another apartment complex at the edge of the Blüdhaven city limits, he had another apartment in this building, which he rented under a name which was neither Wayne nor Grayson.

Once he got inside his safehouse, locking the door and restarting the security system, Dick sat down and started looking for news and updates for Bruce’s condition.

Turned out, the assassination attempt on Bruce Wayne’s life had been all over the news. After reading the news reports from several local and national news platforms, Dick found out despite the sensational headlines, the details provided by all those news reports were extremely limited. So far, only a few things had been clarified.

(1) Bruce was alive, allegedly uninjured and taken to safety. 

(2) The orphanage, where the attack had taken place, was now sealed off by the Gotham City Police Department for investigation.

(3) At least two bodyguards were reported dead and many unconscious children had been rushed to the hospital. It wasn’t clear what had caused the injury of those children.

(4) There had been a crossfire between the assassins and Bruce’s bodyguards, a masked assassin was found dead on the spot, but at least one assassin had allegedly fled the crime scene. One driver was also reported to be murdered and his vehicle stolen allegedly by the escaping assassin.

(5) So far, no one had claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt.

There had been a crossfire and people were killed because of it. Dick ran his palm across his face, people had been killed protecting Bruce, people with families and friends who were going to mourn them.

None of the news reports mentioned any of the Wayne children, Dick couldn’t help wondering how his siblings were doing during this crisis, whether they were safe, or not. First thing, Babs didn’t mention any of his siblings getting injured in her message, so it was likely that they had not been physically injured. 

At the right-hand corner of his laptop, Dick saw another incoming message from the Oracle popping up on his screen. He opened the new message, and this time, Babs, being the godsend that she was, had sent him a couple of video footage and records. 

The young man downloaded those files to his laptop immediately before deleting the message itself; then with his elbows pressed to the desk, his fingers crossed under his chin in support, Dick clicked those videos open one by one and viewed them in silence. 

It was how he learned the details of the ambush against his adoptive father, the counterattack led by his younger brother, Jason, against those two assassins who dared to raise their hands against Bruce, and the identity of the Family’s new enemy.

The Court of Owls.

The name was unfamiliar, but their assassination attempt was too well organized not for them to be recognized as a huge threat to their Family.

By the time he finished, night had already fallen, he tried to contact Babs again, this time, she answered by opening her end of the communication network. Instantly, a box appeared at the center of Dick’s screen, showing Babs, who was facing the camera of her own laptop. Judging from the background, Babs was inside her room in the Wayne Manor, and it was a relief to know she was in a safe place. 

“Hi, Dick.” On the screen, Babs greeted him.

“Hi, beautiful,” Dick replied. "we need to talk."

Barbara watched him for a moment before she answered. "Yes."

It was her reply, just a simple ‘yes’ without condition or hesitation. It came almost as a surprise to Dick. Although as Dick’s close friend, he could expect Babs to chat with him about everything under the sun, but as Oracle, the young woman was under obligation to keep the Family’s secrets from outsiders. 

The situation they had here was tricky, Dick had quit the family business for three years, Babs, and any of the other Bats, were under no obligation to reveal anything to him, plus it was unclear exactly _how much_ could Babs tell him now without breaking the family's code of secrecy. He didn't want to get Babs into trouble.

Yet, he itched to know how the clan had been dealing with the crisis, how would they plan their next moves.

"How’s Bruce?"

“Safe, and he’d already returned to give orders to the rest of us.”

The corners of Dick’s lips curled up unconsciously, despite their estrangement, it was still good to know his adopted father was unharmed and had no problem to command the clan. “...and the others?”

“Also safe. They are looking into the evidence even now.”

Dick nodded in acknowledge, at the back of his head he recalled Red Hood---_Jason_ and other bodyguards were injured during the ambush, though unlike the two bodyguards who were killed, their injuries were not life-threatening. Everyone knew injuries were to be expected in the clan’s line of business, there was a fat chance that Jason would soon be back on duty if he hadn’t done so by now.

Knowing his younger brother, Jason would be the first to prepare to fight in the time of crisis. Though Dick could only hope the younger man wouldn’t rush headfirst into danger like he once used to. None of them could afford to be impulsive and reckless, people tended to die when they weren’t careful and level-headed enough in their line of business.

_Not_ your _line of business anymore._ A voice in his mind tried to correct him. _You are not one of them, not anymore_

He had heard those words in his head often enough in the past three years, but this time he chose to ignore it. It was _his_ business when someone tried to kill Bruce, threatened to endanger his family members.

“Dick, I know you are not going to like what I have to say next but _listen_,” On the screen, Babs spoke up. “B had sent people for you.”

“Oh.” Dick replied dryly. Bruce’s action was hardly a surprise, although the two of them hadn’t been on speaking terms for a long time, still, the older man wasn’t known to abandon his wards in the time of need.

However, it still didn’t mean he would like being put under house arrest and trapped with a bunch of bodyguards. He had built a new life in Bludhaven, a new life he built slowly with care and effort; he had a job, he had friends here, he wasn’t going to appreciate having to cut it all short.

“He wants to keep you safe.” As if reading his thoughts, Babs added. She knew him too well, knew how he felt about his adopted father and mentor still having influence over his life. 

“I know, Babs.” Dick sat back, answering in what he hoped was a reassuring, reasonable voice. “I know.”

****

The next morning, Dick drove to his workplace. It was Sunday, supposedly he didn’t have to go to work, but the young man thought it best to get some…’ preparation’ done as soon as he could, so off he went, driving a few streets away from the main building of his workplace then walking to his destination on foot, going back to the office when the building was mostly deserted save for the aged guard at the front door.

An hour later, when he left he didn’t use the front exit, instead, he exited from the backdoor, but even before he turned the first corner, he could already feel eyes on him. Someone was watching him.

Dick kept walking without looking back, acted as if he didn’t notice he was being tailed, he had been trained by Bruce on the techniques of tracking and anti-tracking in the past, from what he could pick up from the other party, there was only one person tracking him, two at most.

Only after he made a sharp turn, turning away from the main street and started walking down a narrow alleyway, away from the bystanders’ peering eyes, then did he address the ‘stalker’ in question.

“Whoever you are, show yourself,” After stopping in the middle of the empty alleyway, Dick turned back, daring his ‘stalker’ to respond.

He waited for about 30 seconds before a male figure stepped out of the shadow, the brownish-haired man was in plain clothes, a bit on the ‘smart casual’ side. He was perhaps five or six years older than Dick himself, probably still in his early-thirty, but there was still something cold and hardened in the man’s eyes. 

Dick had managed to meet a large range of people when he was still in the Bats clan, but this person before him was an unfamiliar face. Perhaps it was a latecomer who had joined the clan after he left?

“Sorry to trouble you, Mr. Wayne. I’m LaMonica. _The Boss sent me._”

So this man could identify him as one of the Waynes, still the name ‘LaMonica’ was unfamiliar to Dick, he must find out if the man was truly who he said he was. “_Your code_.”

LaMonica watched him, as if measuring him up, but it only lasted for a brief moment before he impassively spoke a short series of codes.

Dick relaxed a little, LaMonica’s codes did match what Babs had sent him last night, the codes that were only known between him and Bruce’s enforcers, who had been tasked with Dick’s protection. This also meant the other man wasn’t a threat, at least...not yet.

With his arms still crossed over his chests, Dick asked. “Then what’s your business, LaMonica?”

“We are here to take you somewhere safe, Mr. Wayne.”

Dick snapped his eyes shut in annoyance, being taken out of the city was the last thing he wanted. Plus hadn’t LaMonica mentioned ‘we’? So his teammates might very well be lurking somewhere near. 

“No.” 

Bruce meant well, but he must turn the offer down. 

LaMonica tensed. “Mr. Wayne--”

“Grayson.” Dick cut him off instantly. “My name is _Grayson_.”

“Okay...Mr. Grayson, I have orders from--”

“I know _who_ gave those orders to you, but I’m giving you some new orders.” The young man cut in without missing a beat. "I know this is your job to hang around, I accept it. But I’m not leaving this city, or go anywhere with you. "

“This isn’t how I’m supposed to do my job, sir.” 

LaMonica was obviously upset by now, but Dick couldn’t care less at the moment, he wasn’t exactly in a good mood either.

“It’s how you _must_ do it from now on, or you can just go back to Gotham with your tail between your legs.”

“I---we are here to guard yo---”

_“I can look after myself.”_ Dick tilted his head, straightening his pose to look down at LaMonica. He had been looking after himself in the past few years, he wasn’t going to let Bruce dictate what he could and couldn’t do again. “I bet you guys know where my apartment and my workplace are, right?”

Looking half annoyed and half-amused, LaMonica slowly nodded in acknowledge. 

At the very least, LaMonica and his team must have the basic information about Dick from the get-go, otherwise, the man wouldn’t have lurked outside of his workplace, looking for the chance to track him down. Most likely he had first hit his apartment last night, found it to be empty, then moved on to the next possible location later.

“Then feel free to stay near both of these places and keep watch, if anything suspicious does turn up, do inform me, or inform your boss, I don’t care. But you or any of your pals aren’t going to tail me or try to find out my whereabouts.”

“How am I supposed to report anything back to the HQ if we weren’t allowed to keep watch over _you_?”

This time, Dick dropped his facade of arrogance and instead used his most reasonable tone to continue. “The two of us are going to have a meet-up every day. You’re going to report back to your boss with the information I provide to you.”

“Mr. Grayson, I---with all due respect, I don’t want to get into trouble--”

“Do as I say, I promise you won’t get into any trouble.” Dick cut the older man mid-sentence whilst throwing the guy one of his best smiles. 

“Alright.” Finally, the man shrugged, seemingly resigned to the fact he wasn’t going to get anything more from the younger man today. 

Dick also relaxed a little, he always felt better when people were cooperative.

After the two exchanged their contact numbers and arranged for a safe location and time for their agreed-upon everyday-meet-up section, LaMonica informed him. "So far, your apartment is intact, we'd found no evidence of contamination or force entrance during our watch."

"Good." Dick murmured as he walked away, he had lived most of his time in Blüdhaven in this rented apartment and many fragments of his life here were stored in this place, it came as much-needed relief to hear the place remained undisturbed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teaser:
> 
> _Once upon a time, the two of them were almost like siblings, despite Damian’s attitude problem and his mindset of viewing everyone who had Bruce’s trust and affection as rivalries and what not. Dick used to work together with the boy like a mentor or a big brother during Bruce’s constant absence. To be honest, he missed this time, almost the same like he missed those old times he had spent with the rest of the family._


	5. Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once, Dick really believed their family could overcome the many problems they faced. He was so young, so naive back then.
> 
> He truly believed this, but it was before everything changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) Happy New Year, everyone!
> 
> (2) The thoughts of an Amazon crime family, with Diana as the boss suddenly popped into my head yesterday, but I don't think I can write this...

Part 4

_She sends me blue valentines though I try to remain at large_  
_They're insisting that our love must have a eulogy_  
_Why do I save all of this madness in the nightstand drawer?_  
_There to haunt upon my shoulders, baby I know_

When Dick came downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast, he was surprised to find Bruce sitting at the head of the table, already halfway through the pieces of toast on his plate. The younger man didn’t expect to see Bruce up and about so early after a long night of patrolling their territories in the previous night. 

“Morning, Bruce.” Dick greeted the older man as he sat down.

“Good morning.” Bruce returned the greeting, his eyes still fixed on the newspaper before him.

After Dick moved out to relocate to the dorm in his college’s campus, his chance of enjoying breakfast inside the Manor, in the presence of his family members had been limited considerably for quite some time. But Family’s business and the matter with Babs had called him back to the den. Though his younger siblings were nowhere in sight, most likely they were still asleep in their own rooms, also thanked to their...Family’s duties from the previous night.

Soon, Alfred brought another plate and a mug of steaming warm coffee for Dick. Then the pair ate quietly for a time before Bruce directed a question to his adopted son. “How are things going with Barbara?”

“It’s fine. Babs is still getting familiar with our...systems. She really wants to upgrade that communication and networking system of ours.” Dick replied he was glad to be able to bring in some good news to Bruce, not to mention he was also happy for Babs’ progress in adjusting into the Bats clan’s business. 

After a pause, he admitted. “It’s good in a way, Bruce. Yo’ know, for me to finally be able to come clean with her...”

Still sipping his tea, the older man replied casually without looking up. “I’d given you permission to speak to her freely.” 

Dick nodded, he was glad Bruce had granted him this permission, even for someone as high ranking as Dick now was, revealing any of the Bats clan’s secrets to a third party without permission still meant death.

“I was surprised, I had never thought you would agree to that.”

Bruce’s permission did come as a surprise. As one of Dick’s best friends, Babs had been a family’s friend for years, someone who was familiar to Bruce, of course. Still, given her father’s job, Dick would never dare to dream of Bruce allowing him to reveal the truth of the Wayne Family to her, but the older man did just that anyway. For someone like Bruce, it was putting a lot of trust on both Babs and Dick himself, trusting Babs not to expose them after knowing their secrets, trusting Dick to handle things with Babs properly so the interests of the Bats clan wouldn’t be put in harm’s way.

Dick refused to think of what might have happened if Babs decided to forsake her friendship with him and try ratting them all out, with all the information she had managed to put together on her own, she could have destroyed them all. 

He knew the Bats would have been forced to move against her if things came down to this.

Dick also refused to think of what would have happened _to_ Babs if things really came down to this.

Thankfully, everything kind of...turned out alright. Not only did Babs agree to keep their secrets, but she had also agreed to enroll in their...Family, to work together _with_ them. She seemed to believe among all the chaos, corruption and violence that haunted Gotham, the Bats clan could serve as a means to protect the innocents, the Family could actually operate as a force of good...or something close to that. 

Was Dick surprised by her decision and insight? He was, but at the same time, he wasn’t.

“I knew she would make the right decision,” Bruce commented out of the blue, breaking the younger man’s train of thoughts.

Dick looked up, slightly taken aback by Bruce’s words. “What?”

“It’s for the best, for all of us.” Bruce finally turned to meet his first adopted son’s gaze. “I’d seen that look in her eyes, I knew you’d seen it too.” 

Dick swallowed hard, he knew exactly what the older man was talking about.

After Babs learned of the sad fate of this poor murdered couple who had saved her on that fatal night, Dick had seen that look in Babs’ eyes. A look of hunger for revenge. The look of a she-wolf sniffing for its prey’s scent, ready for a hunt.

When he looked into the mirror, Dick could see a similar look in his own eyes sometime, he had also seen the same look on his adopted father’s face in the past as well.

Perhaps the three of them weren’t so different after all, and there was, in fact, a common ground among them. 

Perhaps this was the reason why Bruce agreed to let Babs share their secrets.

Batman always had a plan for everything.

So many things had changed since he learned of Bruce’s secrets and him taking up the mantle of Robin. Babs’ taking part in their family’s business was just the latest surprise. 

After Dick went to college, Dick had put his identity as Robin on hold, Bruce had agreed, stating it was time for Dick to take his focus on meeting people from outside of their Family, to look at the bigger picture. So after being Robin for close to five years, Dick had dropped it and once again became merely a college student.

Well, not exactly _just_ a college student, though. Although he had been a lot less active with the family business, the young man still kept his status in the Bats clan, he still had people under his command, plus many members within their organization still thought of him as Bruce’s potential heir, the next Family’s leader in the future.

For a few times, Dick couldn’t help but wonder whether following Bruce’s footsteps was really what he wanted for his own future, yet he still had time to sort things out, right? Surely Bruce wasn’t getting any younger but he was a powerful, well-fit man at his peak, he was still more than capable to lead the Family in the foreseeable future. The issue of succession could still wait.

When the matter of Bruce’s successor was considered, Dick knew he wasn’t the only one to be put into consideration, there were still Jason, Cass…...and Damian. Perhaps Babs would someday fit the bill as well, he of all people understood how terrific Babs could be, once she set her mind on something. 

After Dick went to college, Jason had taken his place as the second Robin for the clan, taking up the responsibility to work beside Batman. For that Dick was both prideful and worried for his adopted brother. Jason was a smart kid, a tough one as well, plus Bruce had trained the boy for years, but Jason was still so very young, and the younger boy could be so reckless, his ‘hit-first-ask-question-later’ attitude could easily land him into trouble.

Though Jason would never admit it, Dick knew the younger teen had always wanted so much to impress Bruce. He shouldn’t have to drive himself so hard, he should have just slowed down; his younger brother had already achieved so much…Dick decided he would talk to Jason, next time he had a chance to set the younger one aside and chat with him in private.

Cass had joined the Wayne Family a few years ago, a quiet, thoughtful girl, despite being an ex-assassin and her biological father, David Cain, was a sworn enemy to the Bats clan, still, everyone adored her for her kind nature and her devotion to their family’s cause. Her presence was a good addition to the Family. The girl had so much potential to grow.

Damian Wayne, formerly Damian al Ghul, Bruce’s biological son. None of them had ever known of his existence until his mother, Talia al Ghul, dropped him off to Bruce earlier this year. It all came as a huge shock to the Family, though Bruce barely showed it, Dick knew the arrival of Damian was also a huge shock to the older man as well.

Ever since Day One, the nine years old boy was more than eager to prove he was superior to his other...siblings. He also made it no secret that he was eyeing the mantle of Batman and wanting to take it up in the future, unfortunately, this also led to him viewing everyone who was considered Bruce’s potential successors his competitors.

Dick had managed to keep his cool most of the time when it came to Damian, Cass didn’t mind the boy all that much either. On the other hand, Jason might not have been so level-headed with the arrogant younger boy, for Dick had heard stories of the boy butting heads with Jason from time to time.

Still, Dick was confident that everything would work out in the end. At the end of the day, they were family, and nothing was more important than that.

__

Once, Dick really believed their family could overcome the many problems they faced. He was so young, so naive back then.

He truly believed this, but it was before everything changed.

It was before Babs helped him to track down the people who were responsible for the death of his parents.

Before he took care of them.

It was before Jason's kidnap and torture by the Joker's hands. His brother barely survived the ordeal, and the younger one was never the same afterward.

It was before Dick learned of Bruce's intention for the Family's future.

It was before Damian......

_Damian_, once upon a time, they were almost like siblings, despite the boy’s attitude problem and his mindset of viewing everyone who had Bruce’s trust and affection as rivalries and whatnot, but things had improved so much between the two of them as time passed. Before he left the Family, Dick used to work together with the boy like a mentor or a big brother during Bruce’s constant absence. To be honest, he missed this time, the same as he missed those old times he had spent with the rest of the family---

Dick quickly shut down his own train of thoughts. He couldn't allow himself to continue, he couldn’t.

It had been a full day since the assassination attempt on Bruce’s life took place in Gotham, more news had rolled in. It was reported that the dead assassin’s corpse had been stolen from the hospital’s morgue, and six hospital staff were murdered, seemingly by whoever took the corpse. The logical explanation for that was someone had stolen the corpse, and this explanation had been accepted by the news reporters and the general public alike but the Bats knew better, according to the information provided by Babs, Dick knew it was, in fact, the 'dead' assassin reviving himself in the morgue somehow, and killed everyone who happened to be in his way.

Secondly, some of the children from the orphanage had regained consciousness, while many still remained in coma. Bruce had announced, through a spokesperson, he would personally pay the medical bill for all of the children who were affected by the incident.

With more news rolling in, the more Dick was tempted to reach out to his siblings, to know how they had been coping so far, to hear from them that they were actually okay, even to work with them through this crisis. But he couldn’t do any of these if he took this first step then the next thing he knew he would easily be lured back into his old routines. 

Plus Bruce didn’t request for him to come back. Seemingly LaMonica only received orders to move Dick to some safe hiding place and keep watch over him, not to bring him back to Gotham, which probably meant Bruce did want him to stay away, even though Dick couldn’t tell what might be the older man’s reason.

Knowing Bruce, if he really wanted Dick back in Gotham, he could have ordered his men to drag his ass back, whether he liked it or not. If Bruce had given no such order to LaMonica, then it could only mean his adopted father was either getting soft in his ‘old age’, or he didn’t require his presence back in the Bats clan. 

At this point, Dick didn’t know whether he should feel relieved or annoyed by Bruce’s decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teaser:
> 
> _“Grayson.”_
> 
> _“Oh, Damian…_hi?_”He should have said something more instead of just standing there staring at the younger one like an idiot, should have said something brotherly and intelligent, but the words just wouldn’t come._


	6. Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was Monday morning, he needed as much normalcy as he could get before he could handle his daily routines and perform his duties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) Sorry for the super late update! I have my job, my freelance job to look after and they ate away much of my free time, not to mention I spent too much time lingering on Twitter, etc as well. Plus with all the coronavirus BS going on, things are not easy, so everyone please safeguard yourself. 
> 
> (2) I noticed people leaving kuso now and then and I am more than grateful!
> 
> (3) I actually did a fanart for [the Amazon crime family](https://www.deviantart.com/darkchildred/art/Fanart-the-Amazon-crime-family-AU-colored-v2-830539236), they are in the same AU world of this story and Unmade’s. Too bad they most likely aren’t making an appearance in the stories themselves (Perhaps expects Artemis, who I think is gonna show up in a small part later).
> 
> (4) Please note that since the time in this story is moving a bit faster than in the main story, this chapter contains tiny bits of plot-spoilers for Unmade. 
> 
> (5) it isn’t like I know anything about the social work in America, so please bear with me.
> 
> (6) Kory shows up, yeah! Though I really don’t know much about her saved watching the Titans tv show.

Part 5

_To send me blue valentines, like half-forgotten dreams  
Like a pebble in my shoe as I walk these streets_

Monday, Dick went to work first thing in the morning, as any other decent citizens would. Only this time he didn’t drive to his workplace with the regular car he normally used, but another vehicle he parked in a rented garage near his safehouse. 

On the outside, said vehicle was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing too expensive-looking nor too shabby, but Dick trusted that the bullet-proofed windows and the built-in security system of the vehicle could be life-saving, it would also allow him to take notice of the potential threats he might encounter on the road, but so far none was detected. 

He told LaMonica he had looked after himself in the past few years, so he intended to keep things that way.

Yesterday his appointment with LaMonica had gone smoothly, which was a bit of a surprise. Since Dick was hardly LaMonica's favorite person right now, he originally expected the older man would put up some attitude when they met again, or try to kick up some fuss in this second encounter; but so far the man had been staying down. After seeing Dick actually turned up in time _and_ still in one piece, the bodyguard didn’t say much outside of the necessary exchange of information, then the two parted ways without any fuss.

Therefore, through both Babs and later LaMonica, Dick managed to get more information about the Court of Owls’ assassins and the conspiracy surrounding them.

These masked assassins, known as ‘Talons’, proved to be rather hard to kill. Even when they were outwardly lifeless, they still seemed to be truly able to regenerate their bodies, then sprung out from their deathlike trance and killed some more. 

These Talons were also deadly fighters, with inhuman speed and extremely dangerous fighting skills. So far only coldness seemed to be able to slow them down.

Last night, the Bats once again engaged with one of the Talons by the Gotham River before the latter could escape from the Bats clan's grip. Currently, the defeated assassin was contained in the Batcave. Babs hinted that Bruce himself had taken up the work of testing the assassin to learn its strength and secrets. 

The traffic light had turned from red to yellow then to green, Dick drove up to one of the busy main roads near the city center. Out of habit, he checked his rear window but didn’t see anyone--neither members of the Bats clan nor the undead assassins---tailing him. The other drivers on the road and the passersby on the sidewalks all looked like ordinary folks minding their own business.

So far, so good. But the young man knew everything could change in any second.

It wasn’t long before Dick drove near his workplace, stopping a few blocks away and finished the last leg of his trip on foot. When he got closer to the front entrance, he caught sight of a man standing near the entrance. Dick wasn’t surprised to see LaMonica’s figure lurking at the corner, not the most subtle kind of tracking. Not really.

LaMonica, code name Black Spider, was dressed in his plainclothes outfit of jacket and jeans, standing there out in the open on this spot in a place where he knew Dick would come across. It could only mean one thing: he wanted to be seen by Dick, and probably engaged with him. 

“Morning.” Across the distance, LaMonica mouthed almost soundlessly to Dick, his eyes never left the younger man’s face.

Dick turned sharply just in order to intentionally ignore the older man. Perhaps it was a bit childish but he wasn’t in the mood to start a meaningful conversation nor play Mr. Nice this early in the morning. Ever since Babs’ alert reached him, he had a sinking feeling that the more interaction he had with any of the Bats would make it _easier_ for him to slip back into his old self, back to the time he still worked for Bruce---for _Batman_, as Robin.

Since the arrangement they had previously made didn’t include Dick having to acknowledge LaMonica’s existence more than necessary, so he kept walking.

Perhaps, just to save himself some headache, he could have just let LaMonica and Co. do their job, allowing them to safeguard him around the clock, at least for the time being, it could have kept LaMonica and Co. happy, having to meet the demands of their boss. Dick thought to himself. He was used to bodyguards tailing him and watching out for him when he was still living in the Manor, this pretty much came with being the underage ward and later adopted son of Bruce Wayne. 

But now things were different, it would be too weird for bodyguards to openly follow him all the way to his workplace. He didn’t particularly want people to stare at and whisper about him, and adding bodyguards into the picture would do exactly just that.

It might sound like he hated LaMonica, but he didn’t. It was only that...the mixture of curiosity and judgment radiating from the older man, annoyed Dick and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. It was Monday morning, he needed as much normalcy as he could get before he could handle his daily routines and perform his duties.

Dick was used to this kind of attention, though. He was used to such stares from the older members of the Bats clan when he was still Robin. He tended to receive stares from those who didn't know him or hadn't worked with him in the past. They always took one look at his youthful appearance and his custom, then thought _"So this is the boy who the Batman calls a partner?"_. They would size him up with mistrust and mockery in their eyes, trying to measure his worth. 

Later when the rumors about Batman considering him as his heir started to spread in their circle, the unwanted attention only maximized. Even though the truth was, Bruce had never made any direct comment about such an appointment.

The truth was, Dick didn't care about the issue of succession either.

The truth was, he didn’t want---didn’t _need_\---LaMonica or any of Bruce’s men to tail him, and _with good reasons._

Yeah, some very good reasons.

***

Soon he entered the building and instantly felt better in the familiar surroundings, though it was probably just a fake sense of security.

Dick had worked for this non-profit organization that provided services to children and teenagers in crisis, in the past few years. His workplace had served as a service center for at-risk teenagers and children. Some of these youngsters were sent here to have classes, programs and activities, hopefully, they could learn to be better prepared when they left the center and faced the harsh reality outside. The place always aimed to maintain a bright, friendly environment for the teens, but when security was concerned, there were too many open spaces, too many windows, too many weakly guarded doors for this building to _really_ be secured.

Some of the teens who went to this center also had school to attempt, some of them had dropped out of school altogether, in either case, soon enough there would be many youngsters arriving at this building, especially during afternoon and dusk times. 

With so many people coming and going, safeguarding this place would be even harder.

The few hired security guards who worked in the service center, the locks and keys and the rather _average_ alarm system in and around the building might keep common thieves at bay, but Dick knew too well it wouldn’t stand a chance against professionals such as the Bats, nor could it withstand an ambush performed by trained assassins.

Once he figured he and those around him might be targeted, Dick did quick work to change this weakness in the security system during the previous day, but there was only so much one person could do.

That was when LaMonica and his crew could play a part. The arrangement had been made previously, what was left for Dick to do was to wait and see how well those lines of defense could work out.

***

A few hours later, Dick had his eyes fixed on the computer screen, hard at work to try finishing his task before the deadline. Though he was interrupted by a figure popping up above his cube.

He looked up and saw one of his female co-workers standing outside of his cube, handing him a folder stuffed full with paperwork.

“Thanks, Kory.” He accepted the folder and took a few seconds to skim through those papers inside quickly, from what he could see, everything was in order. This brought a smile to his face. “You’re a lifesaver.”

With his co-worker handing in the materials early, Dick was confident that he could finish the preparation work for their new project in time.

“No problem, Dick.” The young woman replied with a smile of her own.

“I owe you a favor, a big one.” Placing the folder next to his keyboard, Dick rolled his shoulders back to relax the tension of his muscles. ”So...when will you be free for a dinner treat?”

One of Kory’s eyebrows raised up in amusement before she replied. “Maybe tomorrow night.”

“Great. Let’s meet up after work tomorrow.” Dick offered.

The timing was good, There would be plenty of time for him to think of a location which was secured enough instead of just him randomly picking up some restaurant in a hurry. 

“That’s a deal.” Kory threw another smile, then she turned and left.

For most parts, the invitation was out of gratification, but in the tiny corner of Dick’s mind, he was thrilled by having a chance to spend time with his attractive co-worker. Hard-working, intelligent; with her lovely face, stunning emerald-colored eyes and flaming curled hair, Kory Anders was easily an idol in their workplace. 

***

With a cup of coffee in hand, Dick stood on the hallway, with his elbows resting on the steel rail. He watched the teenagers playing basketball in the playground downstairs. He was taking a short break and it was only an hour before he could go off work. He’d exited from the office for some fresh air. He glanced absentmindedly at the teenagers playing together, laughing, yelling among themselves, as he slowly sipped his warm coffee. 

The same like Gotham---the same like any other major city, there had always been troubled children on the streets of Bludhaven: runaway teens, highschool dropouts, children from single-parent families, orphans, children who were raised by their grandparents due to their parents’ absence, juvenile delinquencies who had brushed with the law but were given a second chance. Many of the teens who came to this center had their fair share of problems in their lives, but at least...these kids could find a safe haven in this service center and took their mind off their problems for a while. 

Dick remembered he used to spend more time with these kids, listening to them and giving out advice the best he could. Or sometimes just listening to what the teens had to say, sometimes it was all those teens wanted: a pair of ears to listen to their worries and troubles. 

Although due to his mounting workload, recently the young man hadn’t spent as much time with the teens as he once used to, still everything was working out well in general. For that, he was glad.

Things were on the way up not only for him but also for his coworkers and the teenagers under their watch. After Dick and his peers worked their fingers into bones, a new project had previously been green-lighted to enable them to improve old services and establish new ones. It wasn’t easy to get those funders to see the importance of their works, their department had to fight every step of the way, and there would be more hard work ahead for them once the project started.

Another happy yell was sounded in the playground, Dick looked down and saw one of the youngsters managed to land another shot, everyone just went wild with it. Dick knew most of those kids had their problems and worries at home or in school, but when they were playing like this...they were still just...._kids_. Of course, they weren’t always well mannered, many of them had learning problems, family issues, anger issues, relationship problems, etc. But essentially, they were kids who were still so young, being forced to face the harsh world pretty much on their own.

Dick vowed he would do his best not to fail these kids.

His thought drifted back to when his friends and himself were younger, about those kids’ age. Compared with these teens on the playground, had any of them ever been so _young_? 

Perhaps not. 

His thought drifted to one of his best friends from the past, Roy Harper. Whenever he thought about the other man, Dick still felt he had somehow failed the other, before they drifted apart. Especially after he found out Roy's drug problem. By the time the news reached him, Dick had already moved away from Gotham and Roy had sunk into a downward spiral of despair and self-isolation.

Dick had managed to help Babs out of a similar situation once, but this time with Roy, things had been far from successful. Unlike with Babs, he didn’t manage to reach Roy.

Much later he heard Roy dug himself from whatever hole he had been hiding and started teaming up with Jason, things had supposedly been looking up for the two of them since then. Dick hoped his old friend was fine by now.

At this point, Dick scoffed at his own wishful thinking, who was he kidding anyway? In reality, he had literally little idea of how _everyone_ had been doing.

Bruce could look after himself, but how about the younger members of the Family? For so long Dick mostly received news about his siblings through mutual friends, for a few times he learned some news about them through Alfred as well, through the years he had set up meetings with Babs, Cass, Damian, Duke and a rather reluctant Jason on occasion, between everyone’s busy schedules.

Babs treated him patiently, mostly listening to _his_ problems instead revealing her worries. Cass always smiled and reassured him she could look after herself, Jason talked about sport, weapons, and combat with him but ducked away from any topic about _the past_, Damian, with an attitude similar to Jason’s, brushed Dick’s concern aside, refusing to reveal much of anything.

Alfred---In the face of this new crisis, perhaps he should contact the older man--

“Grayson.”

At first he thought he had misheard, he shouldn’t be hearing _this_ voice. At the back of his mind he knew exactly who this voice belonged to but it just…_he_ shouldn’t be here in Blüdhaven---

Slowly he turned around and faced the teenager standing before him, just five feet or so away. The younger one was dressed in his civilian outfit, his short spiky black hair was combed neatly and looked to the world like any other teenager. His eyes were fixed on Dick with a familiar hint of annoyance and impatience, the boyish face was as unsmiling as usual. 

Dick wondered had he let his guard down? Or was the boy really getting _that_ good at concealing his own presence?

It took him a long pause before he managed to speak up.

“Oh, Damian…_hi?_” He should have said something more instead of just standing there staring at the boy like an idiot, should have said something brotherly and intelligent and _useful_ to the situation, but the words just wouldn’t come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teaser:   
_Dick turned his head back and stared at his guardian with an empty look. At the back of his mind, he knew what Bruce was saying was reasonable, any sensible adult would make the same advice, but the wounded 9 years old boy who still lived in his heart, the one who witnessed his parents’ death and never recovered from the traumas, refused to let go of the rage and the hatred._


	7. Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick turned his head back and stared at his guardian with an empty look. At the back of his mind, he knew what Bruce was saying was reasonable, any sensible adult would make the same advice, but the wounded 9 years old boy who still lived in his heart, the one who witnessed his parents’ death and never recovered from the traumas, refused to let go of the rage and the hatred.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) Thanks for still reading this story! 
> 
> (2) Clayton Williams is a minor character from the Titans tv series.

Part 6

_It's the tattooed broken promise, I gotta hide beneath my sleeve  
I'm on a see you every time I turn my back_

“What do you mean, Uncle Clayton?” Dick gasped in disbelief. 

“See, kid. I can’t go--”

“I heard it when you said this the first time! You told me you aren’t going to testify tomorrow,” Dick asked with his hands throwing up agitatedly in the mid-air. “Why?”

“I want to go, kiddo, believe me, there is nothing more I want in the world than to have these evil creeps locked away for good, but _I just can’t go_.” Clayton Williams, the strongman in Haly’s Circus, or ‘Uncle Clayton’ when Dick was still in the circus, replied in a pitiful small voice.

Dick took a step back and studied the older man, desperately trying to find some similarity in this fearful man who stood before him, with the confident giant he’d grown to know during their time together in the circus.

The 11 years old boy failed to find any trail of the fearless strongman in his memory from this broken, exhausted middle-aged man.

“...and you aren’t even going anywhere near the courtroom because _you are afraid_.” Dick shook his head, still unable to accept what Clayton had previously said to him.

“I’m very sorry, kiddo.” The older man couldn’t even meet the boy’s eyes.

“Coward!”

“Look, I need to protect my family!” Rage and shame flashed in Clayton’s eyes as he fired back defensively at the boy, his face flushed red. 

“I’m sorry, Uncle Clayton. I...didn’t mean to yell at you.” To a degree, Dick did understand Clayton’s reason, he felt betrayed by Clayton’s action but...what else could the man do? When a powerful crime boss like Tony Zucco told you to mind your own business instead of stepping up to testify against the murderers who killed your colleagues, or else your entire family would be in danger, what else could you do?

“I’m sorry too, Dickie.” Clayton looked away, wiping the cold sweat off his temper with a nervous hand. “...I just...I can’t put _my family_ in danger.”

Clayton had an elderly mother and a sister to look after, both women were now sitting in the living room of the rented apartment which served as the Williams’ current residence. Even if Clayton were willing to risk himself for Dick’s late parents’ sake, he still wasn’t willing to put his family members in danger.

The tragedy of the Flying Graysons trio began first when two of Boss Zucco’s crones approached the owner of the Haly’s Circus, also the trio’s employer, and asked for protection money, shortly after the circus’ arrival to Gotham City. Anyone who knew how the City worked would have paid up immediately after such a visit, but either out of pride or out of blind trust for laws and order, the owner refused to pay.

Dick’s parents, the star attraction of the circus, the Flying Graysons couple, had paid the price with their lives for the circus owner’s action. The ropes which were supposed to support them broke in the middle of their aerial acrobatics performance, resulting in the pair falling to their death.

Dick was right there to witness his parents' death, along with all of the audience presented that night in the great tent. The harsh limelight shining upon his parents' lifeless bodies was a sight he would never forget.

His parents, the late John and Mary Grayson, once planned to let their son debut officially in the circus under the stage name of ‘Robin’, the fresh-faced young acrobat from the Flying Graysons trio when he grew older. but nothing had come out of it due to his parents’ demise. 

Afterward, it was discovered the ropes which were supposed to support the fallen trapeze artists were worn and damaged, so the death of Dick’s parents was eventually ruled as a tragic accident.

But the young Dick knew better.

Mere days before the ‘accident’, the then 9 years old Dick had overheard the circus owner's argument with Boss Zucco’s crones outside of the tent, plus the night before the circus’ opening night, Clayton had also accidentally overheard in a bar, the same pair of mobsters discussing how best to ‘deal with Haly’s Circus, words about ‘cutting’ and ‘ropes’ had been mentioned in their conversations. 

Clayton would later regret how he'd failed to connect the dots quicker and sounded the alarm for his colleagues.

In the end, it took a long time for the Gotham City Police Department to build a case against those two of Boss Zucco’s foot soldiers, it took near two years before the court would start the hearing.

Since no one would take the testament of an 11 years old boy seriously, so Dick’s only hope laid on his Uncle Clayton. Even at his young age, Dick knew the chances for putting the suspects behind bars were slim to begin with, the GCPD never found any direct evidence to prove the suspects guilty, all they had were circumstantial evidence and some vague verbal threats. Still, Dick clung to the belief that perhaps Clayton’s testimony would stand a chance, would make a difference---

Now his hope seemed to be all in vain. Two years were long enough for Dick to turn from an orphaned circus boy to the ward of the famed billionaire Bruce Wayne, who happened to be among the audience in that fatal opening night. Two years were long enough for Zucco to figure out who the witness in the Graysons’ case really was, then found said witness and threatened him with the safety of his family.

In the end, Clayton never testified against those suspects. The last time Dick heard of him, the former strongman had gotten married and became a truck driver.

Without Claytons’ testament, with no one else standing up as eyewitness, the suspects---_the murderers_ eventually walked free.

After the court discharged Zucco’s men, Dick saw those murderers hugged each other right outside of the court, they shook hands with their lawyers, then they moved on to hug their family’s members one by one, grinning, enjoying their moment of victory and freedom right in front of the waiting press and the general public, right under the gaze of the very orphan they had directly created.

They hugged their unsuspecting families when Dick never got to hug his parents again.

Dick wanted to tear those men into pieces with his own hands, but what could a 11 years old boy do against mobsters like them and a powerful crime organization? 

He would have lunged at the two men and tossed into them anyway if not for a large hand coming down to grip him by a shoulder. Hissing, Dick looked behind himself to find Bruce, his legal guardian, holding him back with a deathlike grip. In the blind state of his outrage, the boy had all but forgotten Bruce was also there with him in the courtroom that day.

“_Don’t._” Bruce met his ward’s angry stare with a grave expression on his face. “These people are not worth damaging your own future.”

“As if I care!” Dick hissed back, trying to break free from the older man’s hold but to no avail. Bruce was larger and much stronger than him.

“It isn’t what your parents would have wanted.” Bruce reasoned.

“They are _dead_, Bruce! You can't tell me what they would or wouldn’t have wanted! No one can!”

“They wouldn’t have wanted to see you get hurt, Dick. No parent would.” The older man’s mouth formed a tight unhappy line as he tried to reason with his ward again. "I know how much it hurts, but it isn’t the way."

Dick was vaguely aware of the fact that Bruce’s own parents were gunned down by a robber and the murderer was never found, Bruce never mentioned this in front of him and right now he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

“You can’t---you can’t tell me to forget what they did to my parents!”

“I’ll _never_ tell you to forget what had happened to your parents, Dick.” Bruce’s face tensed. “All I’m saying is that it’s not the time.”

“Nonsense--”

The noise of car engine starting cut the boy’s question off, Dick whipped around, only to find Boss Zucco’s men had long gotten into their vehicles and drove off.

They were gone quickly enough, entirely out of Dick’s reach.

Only then did Bruce let go of his ward. Dick didn’t move, merely stood there staring at the empty spot where his hated enemies had once stood, feeling drained of energy, he felt lost, betrayed, suddenly nothing seemed to matter anymore. 

Bruce spoke up again from somewhere behind him. “The criminals in Gotham allow no action of disobedience and rebellion, _not even ones from a child_. If you went after Zucco’s underlings now, it would remind the gang they still have a job they’d already started but hadn’t yet finished. It’ll surely put a target on your own forehead. Even my influence may not be enough to protect you.”

Dick turned his head back and stared at his guardian with an empty look. At the back of his mind, he knew what Bruce was saying was reasonable, any sensible adult would make the same advice, but the wounded 9 years old boy who still lived in his heart, the one who witnessed his parents’ death and never recovered from the traumas, refused to let go of the rage and the hatred.

The boy remained motionless when his guardian stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder again, this time without much force beyond the touch, and spoke softly. “Let’s go home, Dick.” 

Dick mutely followed the older man as the latter guided him to the waiting limo.

That night, back in the Wayne Manor, Dick dug up the old family photos he stored in a suitcase at the corner of his bedroom, putting them one by one into a huge photo album, alongside the old leaflets and newspaper clippings of the Flying Graysons’ many performances, and the newspaper clippings about his parents’ death, and the trial against Boss Zucco’s men.

Later, he would also add the news about Zucco’s other criminal activities, and the activities of the dreaded Falcone crime family, who was rumored to be Zucco’s secret backer, into his collection, as a mean to keep track records on his enemies and the allies who supported them. 

When he started, the boy didn’t know the exact reason why he had to keep such a record, only a vague urge to not forget who were responsible for his parents’ death. 

Two innocent people were killed, _his parents_ were killed, and their murderers still walked free. Dick couldn’t just let it go.

Dick put everything in order and stored them all in both the album and his own memory. 

Bruce told him ‘it isn’t the time’, he was still too young, powerless to do much of anything, but one day, maybe one day…

By the end of the same year, Bruce took another ward in, Jason Todd, a night years old boy whose father recently died in an accident. With another troubled, younger child under the roof, Dick sensed he needed to put himself together, for the younger boy’s sake if not his own sake. It was how things worked in the circus, the older members taking care of the younger ones...

It felt less lonely to have another boy around in the household, plus it was in fact easier to forget about the darkness from the past---even for only a short period of time---when he was so far removed from the old, familiar environment he had grown up in, still, the old wounds and the pain of losing his parents never really went away. He just did his best to pretend he had let go of the past, for his own sake, and for those who were around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teaser:   
_They understood each other well, so they both knew the kisses didn’t mean anything serious, there was no worry for unintended entanglement or sending out the wrong signals. This time, they were probably just bored out of their mind and wanted to just...do something._
> 
> _He was just fooling around with Wally, it was nothing serious. Neither of them was in a relationship at the moment, so....no one would get hurt. So, why not?_
> 
> _"D--" Dick caught himself before the name could slip from his lips._
> 
> _“What’s it, pal?” Wally asked when they broke apart, a little breathless._
> 
> _“...nothing.” Dick shook his head, but the denial he uttered was more to his own self than to Wally._  



	8. Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when Dick was still struggling to catch up with the situation at hand, he saw Damian raised an eyebrow as the younger male spoke again.“You are making a mess.” 
> 
> “...excuse me?” Dick countered half in disbelief and half in amusement, the criticism seemed to come out of nowhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) I was listening to [Anzen Chitai’s '好きさ'](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXz13ZqzI-o) (translation: I like you) when writing this chapter. 
> 
> (2) This chapter is short I know, but I’m doing my best...I promise Dick’s conversation with Damian will be so damn interesting.

Part 7

_And the ghost of your memory baby its the thistle in the kiss  
Its the burglar that can break a rose's neck_

This incident happened during Dick’s second year in college. On one of his trips back to the Wayne Manor, spending the holiday with his family. During that time, his buddy Wally came over for a visit one day.

At first, they were just hanging out in Dick's room, playing video games and chatting randomly about unimportant things and then.....one thing led to another and the next thing he knew the two of them were sprawling on the couch, with Wally on top of him, their lips locked as they kissed the daylight out of each other. Dick couldn't remember what had led to their make-out session, nor who'd started it in the first place. 

Honestly, it wasn't the first time they kissed, as strange as it might sound to some people; for the two of them a full-mouth kiss could be as friendly and casual as a handshake or a hug between two good friends. They had been close friends for so long and years ago they did even briefly fancy the idea of becoming more than just friends, but soon they realized it would be better for their relationship to remain what it always was, but it didn’t mean all of their activities had been platonic ever since. 

They understood each other well, so they both knew the kisses didn’t mean anything serious, there was no worry for unintended entanglement or sending out the wrong signals. This time, they were probably just bored out of their mind and wanted to just…_do something_.

They were just fooling around, it was nothing serious. Neither of them was in a relationship at the moment, no one would get hurt. So, why not?

Just when those thoughts floated vaguely in his mind, Dick caught sight of a figure standing outside of his room at the corner of his eye. He could almost swear there were some movements in the corridor, half-hidden by the partially open door.

"D--?" Recognition hit his brain right on, but Dick caught himself before the name could slip from his lips.

In the next second, the figure disappeared before he could blink, when Dick could finally focus again the corridor behind the half-open door was already empty as if no one had ever been there.

On top of him, Wally was making some noise at the back of his throat, it sounded like a wordless complaint against his partner’s lack of focus. In response, Dick let his troubled thoughts slip away for the moment, allowing himself to be drawn back to the kisses he was sharing with his friend.

Deep down, Dick knew what he had seen although it happened so fast. For a second he almost thought it was his eyes playing tricks with him, but he _knew_ this sensation of being watched well, especially being watched by _this person_, so he was certain it had been no delusion.

He just didn’t know what it all _meant_.

“What’s it, pal?” Wally asked when they finally broke apart, a little breathless. “You look...a little distracted.”

“...nothing.” Dick shook his head, but the denial he uttered was more to his own self than to Wally.

“Okay.” The red-haired man shrugged absentmindedly, moving off from Dick and once again slipped down to sit on the carpeted floor. “Yo’ want some more snack?” 

Dick nodded mutely, then accepted the package of clips from Wally as the latter handed the small plastic package to him, minutes later they simply went back to play another round of video game. None of them brought up this little episode between them ever since.

Wally West, whose family was well-off but wasn't among the super riches, who wasn't involved with the Gotham’s high society and all its melodramas; who also had no part in the criminal underworld. 

Wally was safe, solid and carefree, _free_ in a way that Dick wasn’t. The red-haired man was someone Dick could trust sharing intimacy with, he shared everything with his friend, just _not_ with his family's secrets.

Only after years later, Dick would wonder whether Wally and he had slowly drifted apart for the same reason: him always having to keep a part of himself from his best friend.

On the other hand, there was Damian.

Had Damian seen him kissing Wally that day?

It was the question which had been stuck in at a far, far corner in Dick’s mind for so long. For most of the time the dark-haired man had managed to ignore this question, but this tiny shadow of doubt never really went away.

If Damian had seen anything that day, the then 10 years old boy never mentioned it. Hadn’t once shown he was bothered by what he had witnessed.

Damian was just a young boy back then, though Dick wouldn't be foolish enough to think the boy was ignorant when it came to the existence of sexual acts and physical lust among adults--- among people who were older than him; yet having knowledge about lust was still a bit different than seeing it first hand?

Or perhaps it was nothing new for the boy. It was just...two adults having a little bit of action, a bit of fooling around. You would definitely witness a lot of more outlandish events, far more messed up things than just two male adults kissing when you were trained to be an assassin by your mother since you were old enough to walk.

Given his childhood spent in the League, Damian very likely had been taught to ignore any desire of his own, just like Dick knew the boy had been taught to ignore compassion, affection, friendship, etc. As far as he knew, the League of Assassins taught their novices that sexual desire and lust were either a weakness to be overcome, or a weapon to be used against their opponents.

He only met Damian’s mother, Talia, on a few occasions. In his memory the woman was always distant, cold, never hesitated to perform her duties to the League. It was difficult to imagine Bruce once shared a passionate relationship with her, and Damian had come along as a result of this love affair. 

At this point, Damian had been sent by his mother to live with the Family for nearly half a year already, the progress of adjustment had been…_difficult_ for the boy and for the rest of the Family, with so many things to catch up and work on among them, the topics of romantic relationships and sexual orientation had never been brought up to the table. _He was just a boy._ It was probably what everyone in the Family had been thinking. 

Perhaps Damian was entirely unsurprised and unaffected, and that was why he never said anything to Dick and, to his knowledge, to anyone else.

Years later, when Dick’s thought about this incident, he would keep telling himself this.

****

What was Damian doing here? Did Bruce know? Did Bruce know his youngest son was here in Blüdhaven instead of somewhere safe, like the Wayne Manor?

It was the first thoughts that flashed through Dick’s mind when his brain could finally digest the fact that his younger adoptive brother was actually right here in front of him.

Just when Dick was still struggling to catch up with the situation at hand, he saw Damian raised an eyebrow as the younger male spoke again.“You are making a mess.” 

“...excuse me?” Dick countered half in disbelief and half in amusement, the criticism seemed to come out of nowhere.

Damian’s glance shifted downward to the older man’s hand, Dick looked down and saw his coffee dripping from the edge of his cup, droplets of brown liquid now stained the floor near his shoe.

He didn’t even notice when did he fail to hold his cup properly. 

“Ouch.” Quickly he righted his cup, his mind still racing. Did Bruce…_send_ his youngest son here? Did the leader of the Bats already see the holes in his and LaMonica’s far from accurate reports so Damian was sent here to find out what was going on? 

Dick quickly shook this thought out of his mind. Sooner or later, Bruce might see through his false reports, but it wasn’t exactly something needed to be handled by the current Robin…

Talking about LaMonica, he knew the bodyguard must still be hiding somewhere and watching this building like a hawk, he couldn’t imagine how the older man would react if he found out Damian, of all people, was there.

“D, did Bruce---”

The younger boy made a little sound under his breath as soon as he heard the mention of his father. The frown between his eyebrows seemed only to deepen. 

His reaction was almost an answer enough for Dick’s question.

“I’ll wait outside.”

With that, the younger one turned his heels and walked away without waiting for his adopted older brother’s response. Soon he reached the end of the hallway, opened a steel door and got himself out, vanishing from Dick’s line of vision entirely.

Ah, previously Dick had all but forgotten the floor he was in was supposed to be off-limited to visitors. Even the staff must pass through the steel door in order to get in, and said door could only be unlocked with a set of passwords.

However, to the former and current Robins, electronic locks and passwords could be bypassed without much of a thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teaser:
> 
> _Perhaps it was naive for him to believe family’s bonds and friendship could last in the kind of world they lived in. No...it was just the world Bruce and the rest of his family chose to live in, Dick had made another choice for himself. He had chosen to move away to Blüdhaven, tried to build himself a new life outside of the ‘family’._
> 
> _“You are just like _him._”_
> 
> _Dick sucked in a breath, he knew who was the one Damian was referring to, and he thought he knew what was coming next._  



	9. Part 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was a challenge of a sort, it had to be. He realized Damian must be testing him, just like the boy once did when they first met each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) if you want to read more about the backstories of different members of the BatFamily in this AU world, here are the links: [interlude](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18223520/chapters/44339011), [interlude II](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18223520/chapters/45708733), [interlude III](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18223520/chapters/46762033), [interlude IV 0.1](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18223520/chapters/51038653).
> 
> (2) I do have a feeling that Dick and Babs might as well get married in the future…..but then again I’m not so sure.
> 
> (3) Sorry, this chapter is so short. I did what I could.

Part 8

_And stales this blue valentines, remind me of my cardinal sin_

One hour later, Dick was officially off work, he left his floor and made his way downstairs to the ground floor lobby of the center, hoping to meet up with his youngest brother there.

At first, he didn't catch sight of Damian, instead, he was greeted by youngsters who knew him as he circled the hallway and the lobby, having to stop for a few times to chat with the youths, exchanged a few greetings or short conversations with them before they parted ways. It took him a few more minutes to finally spot the teen he was looking for: Damian, sitting on a half-worn couch at a far corner of the lobby, holding up a few leaflets and reading the information about the center’s background, its purposes, and activities, with a concentrated look on his face. 

It was a surprise, Dick hadn’t thought the younger one would be interested enough to glance at the information about this service center for youngsters. To the potential heir of the League of Assassins and son of Bruce Wayne the billionaire, his workplace must appear to be so...mundane.

Out in the public, the teen took care not to show his face fully; instead, now he wore a cap over his head and a pair of glasses to hide his feature, he even wore a thick scarf that hid his chin. It made sense though, it wouldn't do for people to discover one of Bruce Wayne's children were here in Blüdhaven, popping up out of nowhere, especially not in the wake of the assassination attempt against Bruce. The Family had already had enough negative publicity in the past few days.

The lobby was full of teenagers hanging out with their friends, they walked around or sat in groups, laughing and chatting among themselves; but nobody went near the spot where Damian was sitting. 

"Dami----D!" Dick moved quickly across the lobby, walking up to the younger one and greeted him. The latter looked up, putting the leaflets back to the shelf, and stood up without a word.

"Let's go." Dick led the way and the two made their way out of the service center, even now, a few passerby teens were still saying goodbye to Dick as the pair got to the front doors.

Once they went outside, Dick automatically walked to the direction of where he parted his car this morning, with Damian following behind him. 

Outside of the center, there wasn’t much traffic. As the pair walked down the street, Dick noticed Damian seemed to be unusually quiet, so he tried to pick up the conversation whilst trying to think of somewhere to take the boy to. 

"Let's grab some food first---"

The only response he got was a blow aimed right at his nape.

Instinct and years of experience allowed Dick to sense the incoming danger, he ducked from Damian's range of reach at once then raised his arm to block yet another blow from the younger one. 

“Wait, what are you doing?” The question slipped from his mouth at once, but deep down, Dick wasn’t really surprised. Damian’s action was so similar to how he once acted around him and their other siblings when he first came to live in the Wayne household.

It was a challenge of a sort, it had to be. He realized Damian must be testing him, just like the boy once did when they first met each other. 

Dick tried to grip the boy by his upper arm, but before he could blink, Damian sidestepped him quickly, gripped the older man’s arm instead, twisting it backward as he locked his other arm around Dick’s neck from behind, immobilizing him.

"You're getting rusty, Grayson." The younger one finally spoke, breathing next to his adopted brother's ear. His fingers pressed against a pulsing pressure point right above one of the main veins beneath the skin.

Dick knew Damian could kill him with more pressure from his fingertips pressing against this one spot or a few other particular pressure points on his person, cutting off his breathing and the blood circulation. It would be so easy.

"Everyone's a critic!" Dick humored the teen, though his laughter sounded forced even to his own ears and it came as a bit of surprise when the older man noticed how forceful Damian’s grip around his neck was, how the boy was now only shorter than him by just a few inches, the body pressed against him from behind was lean but toned with well-defined muscles.

It didn’t match the way Dick had always pictured the youngest of the Wayne’s children. In the past few years, Damian had always tended to remain as the 10 to 13 years old boy Dick pictured in his mind’s eyes whenever he thought about the latter.

“You aren’t who you used to be, Grayson. I’m disappointed.” Damian calmly increased the pressure of his hold. “Todd has never been a worthy opponent, never worthy of holding the mantle as Robin. I used to think you are different from him.”

“I don’t like you talking about Jason like this--” Dick tried to keep his tone casual even when he felt his air being cut off, he worked his elbows, trying to shove Damian away, but to no avail.

“Replacing Todd has never been a challenge, _You_ are the one I’ve wanted to exceed.” 

“Thanks for the flattery, Dami!” Dick shouted loudly, hoping to distract the boy, as he shoved his elbows backward, driving the sharp point of his elbow against a weak spot above Damian’s ribcage, hard.

Under the impact, the younger man’s grip loosened for just a second, but it was enough for Dick to whirl himself out.

“Dami, can we call this off?” Dick suggested as he turned to face Damian again, he saw the latter quickly got into an offensive position, ready to strike again. “We need to talk firs---”

"Is everything okay here?" 

Dick turned his head and saw Kory, of all people, standing on the sidewalk, less than ten feet away from them, holding a briefcase with one hand, eyeing both Damian and him with utter concern and suspicion.

At the corner of his eye, Dick could see Damian slowly relaxing, his body was still somewhat tense but he didn’t look ready to strike anymore. In the past, the teen couldn’t care less about eyewitness but after years of warnings from Bruce, now he at least knew better than to attack in front of civilians. 

“Dick, is everything…?” When Dick failed to reply, Kory asked again carefully.

“Yeah, everything is fine!” Dick forced a laugher, holding up both his hands. “It is my…_cousin_. We were just...playing around.”

He couldn’t introduce Damian as his adopted brother at this moment. Although he had never broadcasted his relationship with the Wayne household in his workplace out of his belief that his family relation should not be connected with his work, still he was certain many of his colleagues were aware of his family background, though once they noticed Dick had little to no desire to bring up his family, most of them had respected his choice by not mentioning the issue in front of him. Therefore, if he didn’t want to risk exposing Damian’s arrival to Blüdhaven, Dick couldn’t introduce him as his younger brother in front of anyone who knew him.

The red-haired woman raised an eyebrow, but the questioning look on her face soon dissolved as she walked toward Damian, offering her hand. “Kory Anders, I’m Dick’s colleague. Nice to meet you. ”

Instead of replying, Damian merely stood there, his hands still in his coat pockets, his green eyes fixed on the woman’s face, studying her, but he didn’t show any sign that he was going to acknowledge Kory’s gesture of friendliness by shaking hands with her.

“Hey, don’t be rude.” Dick reminded the younger boy under his breath, but his words only fell to deaf ears.

If Kory were offended by Damian’s attitude, she didn’t show it. Working in a service center for troubled youths meant getting into contact with teenagers who had little trust toward adults on a daily basis, so bad attitude wasn’t uncommon. On occasions, there had been a few cases of teenagers physically assaulting the staff during emotional outbursts, throwing a few punches, etc; but thankfully nothing too serious had ever taken place. Perhaps Kory had previously mistaken that Dick was under attack... 

“I’ll leave you boys to each other’s company.” Kory said lightly before turning her attention back to Dick.“See you tomorrow night, Dick.”

Dick murmured a faint ‘see you’ in response before dragging his younger adopted brother away from the scene. Surprisingly, the latter kept quiet and offered no resistance.

At the back of Dick’s mind, he wondered if LaMonica were unaware of Damian’s arrival before, then the other man probably would become aware of it by _now_.


	10. Part 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _”you are not taking the situation seriously.”_
> 
> Dick knew what Damian, LaMonica, the rest of the Family, and even Bruce must be thinking. If he were wise, he should have accepted LaMonica and his crew's protection. Should have ducked his head and hid behind Bruce's bodyguards and enforcers, playing it safe. Refusing the offer must make him look like one hell of a brat, full of himself, stubborn and careless.
> 
> But he couldn’t go into hiding, and he didn’t think any of the Bats would understand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) in the comic canon, Dick worked as a cop in Blüdhaven, but I will never write this because I really don't like cops and what they do to people. 
> 
> (2) Talking about the League of Assassins and ninja, I recently found this [‘Top 10 Worst Ninja Movies’](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAzDUiZUuXE&t=653s) list and I laughed my guts out. This is _really_ interesting...you know. (‘The Ninja Empire’? A master ninja using a Garfield phone? Ninjas wearing a headband with the word ‘Ninja’ on it? LOL)
> 
> (3) I’m open to opinions: LaMonica and Kory, which one of them should be a villain in this story? Would anyone please give me some ideas? 
> 
> (4)Thanks [Mihasel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceL/pseuds/Mihasel) for inspiring a new subplot of this story, although Slade is still not showing up in this story, now Dick’s story is getting clearer.

Part 9

_It’s the burglar that can break a rose's neck_

In the end, Dick bought takeaway from a drive-through fast-food restaurant, he ordered a regular burger and coke while Damian ordered a vegetarian one for himself.

After accepting their package from the service window of the drive-through restaurant, Dick sensed his cell phone vibrating in his pocket, he fished his phone out and found an incoming message from an unknown caller.

This cellphone was different from the one he used for working, only the people from the Family or the Bats would know this number. He opened the message and a short sentence popped up on the screen.

_the boy is here what’s the deal?_

Dick had a very good idea where this message came from, but he chose to ignore it, wordlessly he put his phone back to his pocket before taking hold of the steering wheel again and drove off.

He drove them to a hill on the outskirts of the city, a quiet place he knew they could talk without people overhearing. Plus, the remote location was ideal for giving them some privacy, just in case of Damian felt like having a round 2 for their...exercise.

At first, they ate quietly, sitting on the hood of Dick’s car overlooking the landscape of Blüdhaven. Dick studied his adoptive younger brother from the corner of his eye, the boy had taken off his cap and he had been quiet, focusing on consuming his food, he didn’t try to get…_physical_ again, giving Dick a chance to chew on his burger in peace, for that Dick was thankful.

Even though the quietness surrounding them felt like it was the peaceful moments before a storm.

Shortly afterward Dick finished his dinner, then he put the used wrapper and the empty can into the paper bag. 

Now with his hands empty, Dick sat there on the hood of his car, feeling he couldn’t avoid addressing the issue for much longer, so finally, he spoke up. "What brought you here, Dami?"

Usually, Damian would sizzle at the nickname, but today he didn’t turn to look at the older man’s direction, he merely lowered his half-eaten burger and replied with his eyes fixed on an empty spot before him. "I'm here because you are not taking the situation seriously."

In the face of this accusation, Dick could only sigh. "D, given what’d happened to Bruce, everyone is on edge, but I'm taking care of myself---"

" Nonsense. I’d looked at the reports sent back to Father, they are all fake.” The younger boy cut him off at once, he sounded dispassionate enough, but the tension in his tone was still there for someone who had known Damian as well as he did to pick up.

“Oh.” Dick sighed. His cover was burst so easily. He hoped Damian hadn’t said anything to his father yet.

“You let your guard down so easily, it is ridiculous. You didn’t even notice that woman’s presence before she spoke.”

“Who?” Dick stared at the youngster in puzzlement, until he finally caught on. “You’re talking about _Kory_?”

Finally, Damian turned to his direction, gazing at him like he was a complete idiot. “She got close enough, but neither of us had noticed.”

Dick didn’t reply, it was uncommon for him to fail to notice someone getting close, but it has to be a coincidence...it had to be. Kory started working for the youth center roughly a year after him, he had worked together with her in the last two years and she, like his other co-workers, seemed normal enough; but if even Damian failed to sense her presence…was there something worth looking deeper into about her than what met the eyes?

Dick shook his head, it wasn’t likely...they both failed to notice Kory because unlike the countless opponents they’d faced in the past, Kory didn’t mean them any harm, she had no intention to fight, that must be why...

“Kory is fine.” Dick replied quickly, instantly he was surprised by the defensiveness in his own voice. He ran a hand through his dark locks before trying to change the subject. "You should return to Gotham, D."

"Why should I?"

"...you know the reasons."

Because Bruce would probably freak out if he found out one of his children was missing in the middle of this crisis.

With the threat of the Court of Owls looming over the Family, Damian would be much safer staying in the Bats' territory.

With LaMonica shadowing him and _other stuff_, Dick already had his hands full at the moment.

But none of the reasons could help him to convince Damian to pick his bag and go back home.

Dick sighed.

_'It's for your own good'_ or _'For safety's sake'_ could hardly apply to Damian, if Bruce couldn't convince the boy to stay put, then there was little hope for Dick.

_”you are not taking the situation seriously.”_

Dick knew what Damian, LaMonica, the rest of the Family, and even Bruce must be thinking. If he were wise, he should have accepted LaMonica and his crew's protection. Should have ducked his head and hid behind Bruce's bodyguards and enforcers, playing it safe. Refusing the offer must make him look like one hell of a brat, full of himself, stubborn and careless.

But he couldn’t go into hiding, and he didn’t think any of the Bats would understand.

A girl still needed his help, he couldn't abandon her in the middle of a mess which wasn’t even her own making.

"What are you hiding, Grayson?"

Dick looked at the younger boy, and the latter returned his gaze with a slight frown between his eyebrows. For a moment, Dick wondered what the boy expected to hear from him.

"Nothing." After a long moment, denial was what he could muster. 

Damian's expression showed he didn't believe him.

After what he had been through, after his days as Robin, Batman’s partner in crime, after Bruce’s intensive training, Dick wasn’t above lying, far from it. Funny how he could hardly lie well before Damian.

“I’m not hiding anything, D.” Dick tried to stress his point, although his own words sound empty even to him. “I’d just...made a different choice. A choice no one in the Family seems to like.”

There were reasons why he moved away and cut ties with the family business. Perhaps it was naive for him to once believe family’s bonds and friendship could last in the kind of world they lived in. No...it was just the world Bruce and the rest of his family chose to live in, Dick had made another choice for himself. He had chosen to move away to Blüdhaven, tried to build himself a new life outside of the ‘Family’.

“You are so much like _him,_” Damian actually scoffed. “but you aren’t as good a lair, Grayson.”

Dick sucked in a breath, he knew who was the one Damian was referring to, and he wasn’t actually comfortable with being reminded of his adoptive father in this manner. Plus he thought he knew what was coming next.

“Dami, would you please--”

The younger boy dead-panned, finally going to his main point. “You should be with the Family. Your place should be with Father.”

Almost instantly Dick felt a headache building in the cage of his skull.

"Dami, I think we had been through this already." Rubbing his face with a palm, Dick answered tiredly. 

He mentally counted from one to ten, drawing in a deep breath, and told himself he didn’t plan to go back, he actually had a life here in Blüdhaven. He actually had made new friends, meeting new people along the way. People who didn’t know his past or his ‘Family’. Perhaps some of them were vaguely aware of him being the adoptive son of the famed Bruce Wayne, but most of his new friends got used to this fact and after a while, it stopped having anything to do with their friendship altogether. Most people understood that Dick was his own person, regardless of who his adoptive father was, how famous and wealthy said adoptive father was.

Better still, none of his new friends knew what Dick’s family _really_ did for a living.

That was what he wanted, a new life outside of the Family, he had no desire to change his plan and went back to his old life. If Damian wasn’t happy about it, it really wasn’t his problem. 

Standing up quickly, Dick picked up the paper bag and started going back into his car. “Maybe we should go.”

It took a long moment before Damian followed him back into the car and got himself in. He was still frowning but he kept quiet. Perhaps he knew he couldn’t get Dick to admit anything.

“Do you have a place ready?” Dick asked, starting the engine; though at the back of his mind he knew the younger boy, _the current Robin_, must have at least one safe hiding place ready whenever he arrived at a new location.

“Let me drive you to somewhere near---”

“You are not dropping me off.”

“What?” Dick stared at the boy sitting on the passenger seat next to him. “Don’t be unreasonable---”

There was a pinch biting into the side of his neck, Dick went stern at the pain instantly, his mind shot into overdrive as he realized he was injected with some unknown drug. He tried to reach a hand up but it was too late, everything went black in the next second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teaser:  
  
_The progress of forming a bond with an assassin-kid was a long and windy one, but there certainly was a connection between them, something that Damian rarely shared with other people either within or without the family. _


	11. Part 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was so confused, he didn’t do anything but this creature just came up to attack him out of nowhere! Where were his parents? Why didn't they come and save him? 
> 
> The creature screamed, beating its wings against him nonstop. Dick managed to open his eyes for a second, peering at this large flying creature he was fighting against.
> 
> What was this…? A bat…?
> 
> No, not a bat. It was _a raven_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) I’m not sure I’ve gotten Damian right or in character, I can only do what I can.
> 
> (2) in the comic, Tim is the one trying to convince Dick to go back. I’m not sure how readers would feel about Damian doing the same thing, but I promise you, you will see his reasons later.
> 
> (3)I keep wondering how Cass in this story would deal with her Family’s behaviors of, well....actually killing people and stuff, what she thought about it, it’s so difficult to picture. *sighs*
> 
> (4) after thinking long and hard, I realized I just don’t like Slade in fanfics (either as a love interest or a villain) all that much. So, bye bye Slade! 
> 
> (5) Warning: no beta, as usual.

Part 10

_Don't you remember I promised I would write you_

_These blue valentines_

His body felt heavy, difficult to move. To tell the very truth, he couldn’t even move an inch. Dick didn’t like it at all. He should be on the move, there was still _something_ awaiting his attention. He desperately needed his body to cooperate with him, sadly said body had been refusing to take his commands.

It wasn’t right, after what he had been through, after Bruce’s training, he should be stronger than this---

" You are not taking the situation seriously, Grayson."

Damian's words once again echoed in his ears, but this time the boy’s voice sounded vague, as though it came from a great distance.

Dick wanted to say something back in his own defense, but his lips refused to move, his tongue felt thick and heavy in his mouth.

Deep down he knew it was Damian worrying about him in his own way, but the younger one's concern wasn't necessary...he was safe...

He knew Damian must be somewhere nearby, he wanted to open his eyes, but even his eyelids refused to obey his command. 

Perhaps.

If only he tried.

A little harder.

Gathering his willpower, Dick tried once again to will his limbs to move, again nothing happened.

Gosh. He had been put so deep down under, now he couldn’t get back up. He was trapped in his own unresponsive body.

Ha.

How embarrassing.

" I'd looked at Father's old reports, dating back to the time of your parents' death." Damian spoke on, without waiting for Dick's reaction, very likely the boy didn’t expect to receive one. It felt very much like the younger boy was simply talking to himself. 

Something stirred in Dick’s mind.

It was mentioned that...Bruce had looked into his parents' death.

Oh.

_Of course he did._ Dick wasn't the only one who didn't believe his parents' death was just a freak accident.

However, instead of being upfront about this private investigation of his, for the longest of time Bruce hadn't shared his findings with him. The older man didn't even inform his ward he was using his own personal resources to look into the Graysons' case.

As a young boy who lived under Bruce’s roof, Dick used to keep track of his parents' case by using an album, gathering as much information as he could, but compared with Bruce's investigation, Dick's own album of news clippings looked pitifully like the child's play that it was.

To add insults to injury, Bruce had been nudging Dick toward the direction of looking forward instead of backward, during the length of his teenage years.

Bruce must be aware of Dick’s keeping tags on his parents' unsolved case and the news clippings he gathered, he never forbade Dick's activity, he just _ignored it_ altogether, never commenting on it once. He acted as if he weren't aware of Dick's longing for revenge.

For the longest of time, Dick had been unaware of Bruce's holding something this big from him, before Jason dropped some hints eventually.

Even Jason knew more about what Bruce was up to back then, when Dick himself was clueless, unsuspecting, blindly trusting his guardian and later adopted father to be the compass in the turbulences of life.

This fact still left him feeling highly conflicted.

"Father found suspicious activities around the circus, don't you know?" Damian spoke all by himself. " He noted there had been suspicious people looming over you after your parents' murder."

Dick was honestly surprised. He didn’t know that.

In his mind Haly's Circus had always been the victim of a blackmail gone terribly wrong. Nothing more.

" At that time, Father was uncertain of what those people might want with you. Your parents did leave you a trust fund, but the amount of it wasn't enough to draw this kind of attention." Damian continued steadily, as though he was merely going through a report.

" As soon as Father took you under his wings. these people disappeared, and the suspicious activities around Haly's Circus also stopped."

One more thing Bruce had kept away from him.

How typical.

" In the past Father had no idea why these people went away, he never found out who sent those people to go after you. But he was glad that you were safe when they went away, on their own."

" Now we found the Court of Owls has been kidnaping children and training them into assassins. Father suspected it was them who tried to kidnap you before you were adopted by the Wayne Family."

What? 

_The Court of Owls once tried to kidnap me? Wanting to train me into becoming their weapon? They only went away after Bruce adopted me, making me too inconvenient to be a target?_

There had always been rumors about young acrobats from other traveling groups disappearing, did the Court also take those children? Were they kidnapped to be trained and brainwashed into the Court’s prized assassins?

" Can you see? Now with The Court of Owls going after Father, the head of the Wayne Family, _someone from within the Court may remember they still have unfinished business with you._"

There had always been rumors about children and teens from the circuses gone missing, most of them were ruled as runaways. No one seemed to think too much about it. Performers and staffers always came and went, if a young performer decided to pick his bag and walked away without telling his crewmates, seeking his luck somewhere else, it wasn't something that would draw too much attention.

The rumors about those disappeared children had always been cautious tales for parents and circus' managers, but what if these rumors were more than just tales? What if some people had really been taking advantages out of the unstable nature of the trade and snatching talented children away for their own schemes...?

What if those 'runaways' were kidnapped, brainwashed and trained into highly skilled assassins?

It sort of made sense for this kind of operation to be carried out in secret. With children and teens who were already physically well fitted and familiar with arcobatity, the kidnappers would have a higher chance for training the kidnapped children up for their wicked purpose.

If he truly had once been targeted to be the next kidnapped victim and would-be assassin; angry, vulnerable and without protection, the then-nine years old Dick Grayson wouldn't have stood a chance against the Court and its manipulation. The only thing which had saved him was being adopted by Bruce, the older man's influence and wealth was the only thing that kept him out of these conspirators' reach. 

It was frightening to know someone had other intentions for him, some shady group had once intended to snatch him up and twisted him into becoming something else, against his will.

Damian was still talking, but now it became more difficult to focus on what the younger one was saying.

A wave of tiredness wrapped itself around him, weighing him down with its thick, heavy tentacles, this kind of weariness was too thick and overpowering to be natural. Yet, Dick couldn’t do anything but allow himself to sink back down into the muddy depth of his troubled slumber.

****

He must be dreaming again, for now he felt himself to be weightless, floating, floating in the midair. He knew if he looked backward, he would probably be able to see his own physical self, still trapped in whatever place it had been boxed in.

Resenting the idea of seeing himself trapped, Dick didn’t look back, instead he let himself to float further away, the son of the Flying Grayson couple was never meant to be earthbound and boxed in one airless, small cell. 

He let himself float among the currents around him, for a long time he wasn’t even thinking about anything, only allowing the wind to carry him onward. Until he became aware of that beneath him, on the ground, there was a little boy laughing, walking up a hill, followed by two adults.

Instantly, with a shock Dick recognized the sound of his own laughter from the boy. The boy climbing up the green hill was _him_, his younger self, back when he was still naïve and innocent, untouched by sorrow and loss.

It took him a second to recognize the adult man and woman following behind were no other than his own parents.

In this bizarre dream, Dick was now floating in the midair, watching his younger self reaching the top of the hill, where he beheld a massive metropolis spreading before him, for the first time.

It was Dick’s first sight of Gotham City. 

Back when he and his parents were on the road with the entire crew of Haly’s Circus, on their way to Gotham for their performance.

The fleet was on a break during the afternoon, with Gotham already within their sight, the crew had decided it was time for a short break of relaxation before they entered the city. Dick’s parents took him out of their truck so their son could take his first good look at the grand city.

The three walked up to the top of a nearby small hill, with Dick ran up and took in the skylines of Gotham City, and he gasped at the sight. It wasn’t the first time the boy saw a big city, but the sight of Gotham’s skyscrapers, both Gothic and modern, different styles mixed together, lining up against the crimson light of a setting sun, was still a sight he would not forget. 

He didn’t know how long he had been staring at the scenery in wonder before his father placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and said. "Let’s go back, Dick."

The boy nodded, followed his parents to go back to the rest of the crew.

One by one, his parents took the stairs, making their way downhill, with Dick followed behind from a short distance. It was when he first heard the strange noise of wings flapping.

Dick stopped at his path, turning his head, hoping to find where the sound came from. Now he was one with his younger self, and the strange sound made him feel uneasy. He looked up and instantly he saw a black flying creature fly straight toward him.

Startled, Dick took a step back, trying to move out of the creature’s path. He barely had time to raise his hands up in defense before the flying creature hit him straight on, attacking him angrily with its talons and wings.

Dick cried out, putting his arms up in front of his face to protect his eyes. It hurt! 

He was so confused, he didn’t do anything but this creature just came up to attack him out of nowhere! Where were his parents? Why didn't they come and save him? 

The creature screamed, beating its wings against him nonstop. Dick managed to open his eyes for a second, peering at this large flying creature he was fighting against.

What was this…? A bat…?

No, not a bat. It was _a raven_.

As soon as the realization hit him, an earthshaking scream filled the whole world at once.

**“Dick!”**

Dick dropped to one knee, the noise was so loud he wanted to cover his ears. Who was screaming his name like this? This voice...the hysteric voice of a frightened young girl. But there was no one else around...

**“Help me! Dick!”**

_Rachel?_

Black feathers flying everywhere, blocking his vision, Rachel’s last angst scream swept through the whole world like a devastating shockwave, shattering everything.


	12. Part 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was Rachel’s voice. He was certain about it now.
> 
> Rachel Roth.
> 
> She was supposed to be safe, staying out of sight before he could arrange for her to exit from Blüdhaven and join his old friends, who had promised to shelter the girl for as long as necessary. She was supposed to be safe!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) does Rachel really have supernatural powers in this story? Well, the answer is pretty much up to your imagination. I don’t have a definitive answer.
> 
> (2) I have been having a lot of fun watching bad ninja movies, haha. (LINK: https://neonharbor.com/titles/golden-ninja-podcast/)
> 
> (3) Due to this coronavirus outbreak BS, I have to move to a place with a poor wifi network, so I couldn't update my new chapters as much as I like.
> 
> (4) once again, the time in this story has moved faster than the main story, so please be aware of plot spoilers for the main story.

Part 11

_And it takes a whole lot of whiskey to make these nightmares go away_

The city was gone.

Gotham disappeared out of sight in an instant.

Leaving only countless black feathers behind, dancing all around him against the backdrop of pure whiteness.

Dick looked around, the city, the green hill, the road winding up to the hilltop, his parents, the rest of the Haly’s Circus crew and their vehicles, were all gone.

He was alone again, lost in an empty blank space. All he could see were the black feathers drifting like black snowflakes, and the whiteness stretching to all directions.

_"Help me! Dick!"_

It was this voice again, it was still echoing in his ears, but even this voice was fading away.

The same female voice crying out for him, he thought he should know who this person was.

Dick got up, once again looking around himself, looking for answers. He couldn’t see anyone in sight but...somewhere out there....a girl needed his help.

It was a girl, whom he knew. It had to be. 

_”Dick!”_

The voice cried again, piercing through the thick fog which still clouded his mind. He gasped as memories rushed back to him with its full force.

It was Rachel’s voice. He was certain about it now.

Rachel Roth.

She was supposed to be safe, staying out of sight before he could arrange for her to exit from Blüdhaven and join his old friends, who had promised to shelter the girl for as long as necessary. She was supposed to be safe!

Goodness, if her _father_ got his hands on her...

When he first met Rachel and her mother, Rachel was a frightened, nervous girl who had little trust to anyone else, whilst her mother, Melissa Roth, was as frightened and on guard as her daughter, but ten times more weary and worn, weighed down by the pressure of raising a daughter single-handedly in a difficult situation.

At that time the mother and daughter had just moved to Blüdhaven. Melissa was working as a shopkeeper in a shabby store near Dick’s workplace, when she was working, more often than not Rachel would go to the youth center so she didn’t have to lock herself in the small apartment rented by Melissa after they moved to the city.

It didn’t take long for Dick to notice the skinny young girl who constantly lurked at the corners of the center didn’t seem to have school to attempt, nor did she go to any of the programs provided by the center, she just came in at odd hours, always dressing in black from head to toes, she would sit in the hall or anywhere else available, reading, using the wifi, checking her cell phone, listening to music with her headphones on or she just simply did nothing. She made no friends, she barely even talked to the other teens. All her behaviors pretty much outlined a deeply insecure, withdrawn youth.

It wouldn’t do to directly confront the dark blue haired girl about her issues, so Dick did his best to befriend the girl, kept talking to her, making sure she knew he would always be there to listen and support her, instead of using his authority to try forcing some answers out of her mouth. 

At first Rachel stared at him with mistrust, but as time passed she slowly warmed up to him, little by little she started talking about how much she was worrying about her mother, who worked so hard to support both of them. She even introduced her mother to Dick, two adults managed to exchange a brief conversation, when Melissa hesitatingly accepted a name card Dick had given her. The woman also agreed to make contact if she and her daughter needed help in the future.

Melissa never had the chance to make use of the phone number printed on that name card.

Shortly after Dick’s first meeting with Melissa, Rachel started hinting at the ‘men’ who were chasing after her and her mother. 

The girl didn’t give out much details, but at that time Dick got an impression those men might be sent by Rachel’s own father.

The possibility of domestic violence seemed to be high, perhaps Melissa was hiding from an abusive husband. It was when Dick decided he needed to talk to Rachel’s mother again, as soon as possible. If the husband in question posed so much of a threat, the mother and daughter would soon need help from the authority.

But nothing had come out of his plan to contact Melissa, because a mere day after Rachel mentioned the looming threat against her and her mother, Dick received a desperate phone call from Rachel herself, who was hysterically screaming over the phone, crying so hard she nearly choked by her own sobs. 

Rachel cried that _they_ had found them, _they_ had gone after Melissa and had her killed.

Dick rushed to their apartment building at once, only to find a police vehicle and an ambulance parked before the front entrance of the building. He arrived just in time to see Melissa’s motionless body being carried up to the ambulance. 

_"She had fallen from the staircase, such a terrible accident."_ The bystanders outside of the apartment building whispered among themselves.

Dick scanned the crowd, Rachel was nowhere in sight. He also didn’t see her getting into the ambulance with her mother. Where was she?

Half an hour later, Dick managed to find the girl hiding in a fire escape a few blocks away from the apartment building. The cell phone she’d used to make the desperate phone call to Dick laid at her feet, the battery all used up and dead.

The girl was frozen, not just by the cold wind but also by what she had been put through, she could barely talk, she could only cling to herself into a small ball, as if it could make herself disappear.

_“She is gone.”_ Rachel kept whispering to herself, refusing to look up. _“...gone. It’s my fault, my fault...”_

Later that night, Dick would find out (through hacking into the police's channels) Melissa was pronounced dead even before the ambulance could reach the hospital. 

Night was falling fast around them, for an instant Dick did consider taking the girl to a police station nearby but in the next second he recalled Rachel mentioning her father had spies even among the police force. After losing her mother in such a cruel way, taking the girl to the police would only worse her fear.

So Dick made a quick decision and took the traumatized girl to one of his safehouses for hiding, it took another few hours before the grief-struck girl could muster up enough willpower and strength to talk.

That night she told Dick everything, from the very beginning. 

Turned out, Melissa Roth wasn't really Rachel’s mother, but her _aunt_.

They were actually running away from a man called himself ‘Trigon’, a powerful cult leader. His cult didn't receive much attention from the press but it was still very widespread and powerful nonetheless, with supporters within the high society and even the police offices.

Once, Melissa and her younger sister were both followers of Trigon’s cult, Rachel was the product of an affair between Trigon and Melissa's sister, Angela, who followed Trigon’s every word blindly even from the start.

At first Trigon showed no interest in his own daughter, letting Melissa take up the role of the baby girl's caretaker, Angela herself also showed little interest in the girl; but it all changed when Rachel's ‘powers’ started to manifest when she grew older and started seeing ‘visions’ which other people couldn’t see.

Trigon was a clever man, it didn’t take too long for him to recognize Rachel's potential, he began to use her as a tool to strengthen the control he had over his cult.

He announced to the cult members that Rachel was in fact a great prophetess, the reincarnation of the Great Raven, that she could see the future, and read people’s minds among other supernatural things, it was her destiny to guide the entire cult to their great fate.

In Dick's opinion, Rachel’s supposed ‘powers’ were probably her unconscious use of observation skills and being highly sensitive to other people's moods and attitudes, enabling her to seem like she could read minds and foretell other people's future.

When facing his followers, Trigon acted like a loving father and treated Rachel like she was the apple of his eyes, but in private, he forced his own daughter to go through a series of ‘trainings’ which put the young girl’s physical well being and her sanity to the breaking point, she also wasn’t allowed to make friends, Trigon demanded her to think about nothing but the Great Fate she supposedly would guide all of them to. 

Rachel rejected her father’s teaching, deep down she was very much just an ordinary girl, wanting things an ordinary girl would want: friends, going to school, having time to play games and read, but all of these had been denied for most of her childhood. In her parents’ mind, she had no value outside of performing her role as the great prophetess.

Dick couldn't really understand how the man could do this to his own daughter, how could a father be so cruel and mistreat his child ike this. His own parents were loving and protective to him. Bruce, despite his flaws, was still the anchor for his children when they sailed the dangerous ocean which was the world they lived in.

Even in the infamous al Ghul clan, Ra's still kept looking after his offspring in his own way, Talia wanted what was best for her son; even though her idea of what was considered 'the best' was questionable to outsiders.

The abuse went on for years, until that one time Trigon got so pissed at his daughter’s disobedience that he beat her to the inch of her life. It was when Melissa, the aunt who had taken care of Rachel through the years, finally snapped and ran away with the girl.

But running away only marked the beginning of the new nightmares. It didn’t take long before Trigon’s men began to chase after them. Trigon wanted his valuable little prophetess back at all cost, he wouldn’t mind removing anyone who got in his way. Eventually Melissa paid the price for loving Rachel as her own and wanting to keep her away from her abusive father.

That day when Trigon’s men finally caught up with them, Melissa ordered Rachel to run for her life, staying behind to try slowing those men down. The last thing Rachel had seen of her beloved aunt was the latter being pushed down the stairs.

She wanted to go back, but Melissa’s last words bound her into running faster, to hide away from her father’s crones.

Alone and scared out of her mind, Rachel made a desperate phone call to the only adult left she could trust in this city of strangers. Dick Grayson. 

At the same night, Dick reached out for information about Trigon, only to have most of Rachel’s accusations against him to be confirmed. Despite putting up a front as a harmless spiritual leader to the public, in the underworld of organized crime and illegal dealings, Trigon was in fact a force to be reckoned with. 

Instantly Dick knew seeking help from the local police force was useless.

There wasn’t much Dick Grayson, the good citizen, could do on Rachel’s behalf, but as a former member of the Bats clan and an ex Robin, there were still some tricks up his sleeves. 

...Rachel...where could she be now? She should still be in the safehouse he had arranged for her, she should be safe. But he of all people should know things could go wrong so easily.

Things had gone wrong for him even before he left Gotham for good, right?

The people who lost their lives, people who were hurt beyond recovery, the mayhem and the meaningless loss...the price he had paid.

_"Once you choose this path, there is no going back."_

Bruce’s voice echoed into the nothingness. The older man had said those words to him years ago, when he was still trying to convince Dick to stay out of the business, the real family’s business.

That day Dick finally confronted his legal guardian with what he knew about the Bats clan and Bruce's part in it, he told the older man he knew everything now.  
After years of ignorance, it was Jason who revealed the truth to him, risking Bruce’s wrath and being banished from the Wayne Family and the Manor forever. The younger boy didn’t tell him the truth with the exact words, but the hint he left behind was enough for Dick to pick up quickly on his own.

Once he did, he confronted his guardian at once, he also told Bruce he wanted revenge. 

The older man was furious, he still wanted very much to keep Dick away from the family's business, even when the truth was out in the open. When finally it became clear denial was pointless, Bruce told Dick he should give up the idea of revenge, he said revenge didn't come without a price, he must give something for the clan in exchange.

He told Bruce he didn't care, he wanted in.

When the older man realized there was no stopping his ward any longer, Bruce did give in and started training Dick for his tasks in the family's business, and his revenge.

He had made this bargain with Bruce, if he wanted to avenge his parents and had Bruce's and the clan's assistance in tracking down the murderers, then Dick must contribute to the clan and prove himself. To prove that he had the wits and strength to seek revenge when the time finally arrived, without getting himself killed.

That was how Robin was born. Not in the form of the cheerful young acrobat Dick's parents had originally planned for their son, but something born out of grief and fury, as a symbol of fear, Batman's own little helper.

As Batman's own little messenger bird of terror and mayhem.

Once he chose this path, there was no going back? Dick didn’t care.

At least what he had learned and experienced among the Bats taught him how to deal with situations like _this_, how to _really_ protect people who were in need.

With the black feathers falling like black snow around him, he still couldn’t find a way out, but now he knew he did have a mission to focus on, someone he needed to reach out to...


	13. Part 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Afterward it took him three years, trying to crawl back to the world of ordinary people, back to normalcy, but now his past had finally caught up with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I thank everyone for still reading and leaving kuso despite the infrequent updates. Things haven’t been good in the offline-world and it always affects my mood. Knowing people still read this story and care about it means a lot to me. Thank you!
> 
> 2\. I can only hope this chapter isn't too much of an info-dump…
> 
> 3\. Huhh...I still don’t know much about the Cass in this story.
> 
> 4\. Sorry that I just keep hinting at things but never give you any direct answer to many of the plot points and characters’ motivation, I hope things will become clearer for you in the later chapter.

Part 12

_To send me blue valentines like half forgotten dreams_

“You boys are so difficult to deal with. Both of you.” 

Someone was speaking from a distance, a male voice. The impatience and sourness in this voice was not lost to Dick.

Dick frowned. He didn’t understand what this person was saying, he didn’t even know who was talking, or whether that remark was directed at him or not. His mind was much slower than usual.

Damn, he couldn’t even _see_ who was talking.

Why couldn’t he see?

" No one says you must stay here to 'deal with' it, Spider."

Before he could find any answer to his own questions, a new voice interrupted Dick’s thought. This time, it was a voice he was familiar with...who was this?

Dick thought he should know this person, he had a sense that he actually knew this person quite well. Yet it still took him some time for his feeble mind to form an answer.

Damian.

Damian was here, with him. The younger one was talking to an unknown male.

" Excuse me? I have a job to handle--" It was the same unknown male voice, a man who had been referred to as ‘Spider’.

Who was this ‘Spider’? It took Dick a few tries before he recalled. Black Spider, LaMonica. The babysitter Bruce had assisted for him.

But why would LaMonica be here? The last time he heard, the older man should be far, far away. Did LaMonica make contact with Damian, or was it the other way around? Did Robin call in the older man so they could take Dick back and bring him straight to Bruce? Still...it didn't seem like Damian's style to call people in, though.

Then Dick noticed something else. It was LaMonica’s voice, the voice sounded like it was coming from a distance, through an electrical device. Meanwhile, Damian's voice sounded undeniably clearer, he must be in somewhere close by, _with him_.

So LaMonica must still be far, far away from him. Damian must have kept the man away. Right now the older man must be speaking to Damian through a phone or a commlink.

But then...where, exactly were they? Where did Damian take him to?

The sound of argument between LaMonica and Damian tugged Dick closer to rational thoughts and recent memories. He must remember them. Rachel...the threat against the Bats clan...the Court of Owls...undead assassins...LaMonica showing up in the morning when he went to work…

So many things happened all at once, must keep himself on the right track, but he was just so tired...

“Tt. I’m not so sure about the effectiveness you’ve provided.” Damian interrupted whatever LaMonica had been saying.

"_Excuse me?_" The other man was unmistakably pissed off at this point. 

In the face of Black Spider’s outburst, the current Robin replied calmly, matter-of-factly. “From what I can see, I’m doing _your job_ for you, Spider.”

There was a long pause before LaMonica spoke again, defensively. “I didn’t ask for your interference, Robin.”

" You would rather face Batman and explain to him why you haven't been doing your job properly, as he expects you to?"

"....."

LaMonica's lack of response made Dick know the older man must also realize Damian was referring to the little pony _he_ had roped the man into complying.

“So I’m taking the responsibility off your hands, Spider.” This time Damian went straight in for the kill.

“Wait---”

“It’s not up for discussion.”

“Wait---” LaMonica was still trying to say something but his voice was cut off with a _‘beeeee’_ sound, most likely Damian had cut the commlink.

It wasn’t how you handled interpersonal relationships in the Bats clan, Dick thought to himself. Not by butting in and messing with someone else’s job, taking things---taking _people_ away from them, Damian wasn't winning himself any friend here.

Perhaps the younger boy simply didn’t care.

Damian had behaved in the same way when he first arrived to Gotham, arrogant and insensitive to everyone else, Bruce was the only one who had some control over him and the boy listened to, occasionally, what his father had to say--but he wasn’t listening to his father out of love and kinship, but out of a thin layer of respect to the power and influence Bruce wielded as Batman, his ability, the reputation the older man had built within Gotham and among the other crime families across the country.

At the same time, Damian had never been uncertain that one day in the future he would surpass his father. Before this day finally arrived, other members of their Family were simply opponents needed to be surpassed first.

In the past, his attitude toward his siblings, sometime even to his father, had led to some violent clashes within the Family.

Dick always believed Damian had changed, after they weathered the battles with the Joker and their many other rivals, after they survived the difficult time when Bruce and Diana were missing in the South America and both their Family and the Amazon clan were in chaos, Jason's kidnap, his exile and the chaotic period of his return to Gotham…

The Family had weathered many crises through the years, those hardship changed all of them in different ways, Damian's changes were obvious.

Loyalty didn’t come easily within the clan. The progress of forming a bond with an assassin-kid was a long and windy one, but Dick had come to believe there certainly was a connection between himself and the younger boy, something that Damian rarely shared with other people either within or without the family. 

The boy had matured so much since he first came to their Family. After the boy came to accept Dick as his mentor, then it didn't take long for him to warm up to Alfred, his relationship with Bruce also improved through time, he also came to an unspoken understanding with Cass so the two were fine, now the boy could even act civilly with Jason as well...

Their Family had never been perfect, but for a time being, they were contented. That was enough for Dick, for a time.

So when did it become _not_ enough?

Perhaps it was after he... found his parents' murderers, with Babs and Bruce’s help.

Dick didn't regret what he had done, but he wasn’t proud of it, and he didn't want to face it. What he had done, and the aftermath. 

He had crossed many lines in the past, but this time, he crossed _the_ line.

And sometimes he would rather pretend it didn’t happen.

“Grayson.”

It was Damian’s voice again. This time he was addressing him directly.

Then something touched the back of his hand, Damian’s hand.

“Rest now.”

Resting was the last thing he should be doing. Rachel was probably in danger, some murderous foe was targeting Bruce and even the rest of the family, when he was still trapped here. His body immobile, drugged up--- 

No he shouldn’t even be wasting time here. He wanted to open his mouth to protest but nothing came out, then he tried to open his eyes.

It was when he felt a pinch bite into the skin of his forearm, whatever chemical being injected to his system soon drained him of what little left of his strength, putting him under again. 

He must be out of it for quite a long time afterward, latter Dick would only remember he’d experienced what seemed like a long series of jumbled up pieces of memories and incoherent dreams. 

When he was drifting in and out of consciousness, he thought he’d heard a voice. Kory’s voice, sounding amused and with a hint of mischief laced in her tone.

_”Pick me up after work, Dick.”_

Did they have an arrangement? But her voice faded away as quickly as it came. 

Then there was a black haired girl, standing there at the corner of his eyes, she was frowning and looking sad, watching him.

_Cass_...his little sister, she was always so good. He would rather the girl not knowing what he had done for the Family, for his revenge....How would she react once she realized what sort of man her older brother truly was?

Dick knew it was only wishful thinking. Cass was smart and she had her ways of finding things out. She _knew_, she probably had figured out what sort of man her older brother really was, even though she’d said nothing. She was kind, gentle like this, almost to a fault.

Next it was Jason who appeared before him.

His younger brother was in the form of a 10 years or so boy, drifting in and out of existence like he was an after image. 

Jason…

He tried to utter the boy’s name, wanting to say something more, though in the end he was at a loss of words. There had been too many things unspoken between them. Too many things he should have said to the younger boy but he never did.

There were so many things they should have discussed together, instead of beating around the bush. For instance, they should have talked about the truth of their guardian and mentor, Bruce. About how Dick had been kept in the dark for years, while Jason had always known the truth.

Even since he began his training under Bruce, something in his relationship with Jason changed. Sometimes he had a sense that he was in some kind of a competition with the younger boy. He didn’t want it, but some other times, it felt like this development was sort of...unavoidable. 

Dick still had mixed feelings about Jason’s action. Would he prefer the younger one to keep quiet, never telling him anything about the family’s business? He wasn’t certain.

Now, many years later, Dick wondered if he and Jason had once been like two mirrors to their adoptive father, so whenever the older man looked at his two wards, he would see two different sides of himself reflecting in two pairs of eyes. One showed the man the ideal image of himself, as a caregiver, a father, a mentor, fair-minded and righteous, whilst Jason reflected a darker, truer image of him, Batman, the crime lord, with blood on his hands, respected but widely feared.

How could he be so blind back then?

The day he thought about leaving Gotham was the day Bruce revealed to him what he thought about the family and its future, and his children’s positions in it.

Still, one thing was certain, for the first time it had become quite clear that he didn’t want to end up like Bruce. He didn’t want to be alone.

If Bruce’s intention was set into motion, he would sit on his throne, high up at the very top of the empire he built, but alone.

Alone.

No one would be by his side.

Perhaps there would be one child left by his side, but there wouldn’t be more.

The other children would probably be left bloody and broken, becoming part of the hill made of bones and corpses below Batman’s throne.

In Dick’s eyes, Bruce’s plan would only draw the destruction of the Family, but he didn’t know how to stop it.

He tried talking Bruce out of his plan, it didn’t work.

Then Dick didn’t know what to do anymore. He was at the end of his rope. So he planned his last move, by removing himself from the picture.

Bruce’s plan was destructive, he didn’t want any part of it.

He didn’t understand his adopted father anymore.

Once, Bruce had always only intended for him to have a normal life, going so far as to shield him from the truth. The older man had gone to such lengths to make sure Dick could enjoy the best schooling, the best chances to establish himself in the society, Dick had forsaken these chances in favor of revenge.

Afterward it took him three years, trying to crawl back to the world of ordinary people, back to normalcy, but now his past had finally caught up with him.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is not finished yet, more chapters will come later, so what do you think so far? Comments are love. *winks*


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